


Constructipups

by Bubonicc



Series: Wrecker Babies AU [4]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Caretaking, Human Jazz, Human Prowl, Implied Relationships, Merformers, Possible Young single dads, SFW relationship, Wrecker Babies AU, pupformers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:24:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6208834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubonicc/pseuds/Bubonicc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prowl gets mugged by six fish, they steal his donuts and his love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mugged

**Author's Note:**

> This is posting like... 4 days earlier than is should and it's because spring break is next week and my beta will be away so I crammed work out for them to beta and also because I need sleep so bad its not even funny.  
> Anyway enjoy the pups and the first chapter to the new series!!

"Prowl, respond, Prowl-" Prowl’s radio lights flickered on as the voice spoke, then dimmed when it clicked off and waited for a response. "Come in Prowl."

            "This is Prowl, what is it tonight, Jazz?"  Prowl held the com to his lips, awaiting a response as he sat in the parking lot to one of his favorite coffee shops. It had already been late into the night, about 10PM when Jazz first called. Prowl had only a half hour left on his shift before he could go home, but since it had been a slow night he got himself a bag of donuts, a hot coffee and sat in the lot 'watching' for speeders.

            "Got a call about some teens on the west side beach, witnesses say they saw them by the rocky side." The rocky side was the dangerous side, plus the beach closed at eight every night so nobody was supposed to be there anyway. "Figured since you're close you might want to check it out and scare them off if they're still around." The chances of it being just a group of kids trying to smoke in secret behind the rocks to keep from getting caught, nothing unusual and a common call on Fridays.

            "I'll take a look.' Hanging the com on the radio, Prowl stepped on the brake and shifted his car into drive. The beach wasn't far from the coffee shop, maybe a mile down the road that lead to a large dead end that usually provided extra parking for beach goers.

            Driving along the winding road, he passed the main section of the beach and headed right for the end where the more rocker area would be. He parked along the road and stepped out of his car. Even though there were a few streetlamps, Prowl had a flashlight in hand just in case as when he walked down towards the rocks it would probably be darker.

            He walked through a path in the grass, flashlight shining on the ground in front of him so he wouldn't trip over any branches. There was a bit of a steep decline in the land that led to the lower part of the rocks and he slid down it with ease.

            It hadn't been a surprise to him, or Jazz who had called that by the time he had gotten there the kids would have vanished. Nothing but their tracks in the sand remained and a few energy drink cans and a funny little wooden bench that seemed to out of place against the rock face. It looked pretty decrepit and had a bit of moss on the legs, but looked stable enough to sit on. There was a street light just above the rock face it was under, illuminating it and he wondered if this had been a good spot to sit and watch the sunset at one point. It seemed too far away from the main beach and looked like it was at the mercy of high tide sometimes.

            Crickets creaked in the tall grasses and some lightning bugs blinked on and off around him and the bench. It was a beautiful spot, and the sound of the gentle waves rolling in and out was soothing.

            With a sigh, Prowl headed back to his car to grab his coffee and donuts and then slid his way back down the incline. He was cautious to sit on the bench as he wasn't sure right away if it would hold his weight, but it just groaned a bit.

            Sipping his coffee, he looked out over the ocean, seeing the waves catch the moonlight and glisten as they rolled up onto the sand.

            This _was_ a nice spot.

            Digging a hand into his bag, Prowl pulled out a single donut and took a bite. Above him, he could hear his car radio release a bit of static and mindless chatter between other patrols in the area. As long as they didn't need him, he would sit there and wait out the remaining bit of his shift.

            _Pweep~_

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Prowl looked around for what made that weird noise. It sort of sounded like an otter, of all things, but there were none of those around these parts. It came again just around the corner, out of his vision as a bunch of rocks blocked his line of sight.

            Standing slowly, Prowl rested one hand on the top of his gun holster. As he walked, he unbuttoned it and gripped the gun's grip.

            Pressing his back to the rock, Prowl kept sneaking, listening to whatever it was moving around in the gravel. It was too awkward to be footsteps, almost sounded as if something was being dragged.

            _Oh shit, am I right in the middle of a body dump?_

Cocking his gun, there was no turning back now. Throwing himself around the corner, Prowl threw his gun up and shouted,  

            "FREEZE!"  He blinked, disoriented when he realized there was nobody around the corner. Well, no human, as when he looked down after hearing the rustling again there was a small green and purple mer pup sifting through some trash. It looked up at him when he shouted, then went back to pushing around cans and rocks. It had plastic around its neck, what looked to be the six pack that held soda cans... or energy drinks. "A... pup?" Not quite lowering his gun, Prowl looked all around. Usually when there was a pup around, and adult was close by.

            Mers were common on this part of the island and usually the public was advised to avoid them as they had a reputation to become violent when confronted. At least that is what he had heard, he had never encountered one before. All he really knew that more on the mainland there was an aquarium that had a small number of them in captivity.

            With no sign of an adult Mer about, Prowl lowered his gun but didn't put it away right away. Better to have it out in case an angry adult charged him for being too close to its pup, all the more reason to get away from it.  

            Before turning away to leave it to whatever it was doing, he felt like he should try to remove the plastic from around its neck. Might as well try once and if it takes off just leave it.

            "I'm not going to hurt you." He took a step closer, and then another, happy the pup seemed indifferent to him coming closer to it. That was weird, wasn't it? Shouldn't it be skittish of him? Was it used to people because of the beach?

            He knelt down, putting his gun in his holster for a moment to pull out a small pocket knife he had while his other hand reached down and set itself on the little things back. He expected it to bite him, but instead it peeped at him and made a weird purring noise as it chewed on the end of a can.

            Its skin was smooth and warm, still a bit damp from the water it was no doubt in at some point during the night. He wasn't an expert on these kinds of things but it seemed sort of skinny. He kept petting it, as it seemed to like that and it made it much easier for him to flick his knife open and slide just the tip under the plastic. It was a tight fit, and the pup made a small noise that could have been a growl but it let him cut the tab off and it fell free.

            "There we go." Picking up the soda tabs, he sliced every ring to make sure nothing else would get caught in them and shoved it into his pocket.

            Sitting on his heels, he watched the pup go around to each can and fiddle with it, moving on and continuing to make small little noises. It was cute and he wanted to touch it again but it wasn't best to stay around it any longer than he had.

            Picking up the cans he could find, Prowl brought them all back to the bench he had been sitting on and tossed them in a bin just up on shore. Once done he made his way back down to sit and enjoy the last of his coffee before heading home for the night.

            A few minutes go by and Prowl enjoys another donut before he heard the loud dragging noise in the gravel again. It wasn’t long until the pup came around the corner, stopped, saw him, and peeped. It scooted its way over to him, stopping a foot before his feet and looking up at him with deep red eyes.

            "What?" It cocked its head at him and itched its tail. Its eyes locked onto something, and Prowl didn't know what until he moved his hand that was holding his donut. Its eyes followed it, and it patted its tail a bit when he held it out towards it a bit.  

            So it _was_ hungry.

            Poor thing, maybe an adult wasn't around because it had been killed or something. It was skinny, and it was sorting through trash.

            Breaking off a piece of the donut, Prowl tossed it to the ground in front of it. He couldn't help the small smile that crept on his face as it peeped extra loud and picked up the chunk to stuff it right into its mouth. One cheek puffed out as it stored it there, chewing on it and savoring it. When it finished it, it turned and suddenly scooted off closer to the water. Oh, well, okay, goodbye then.

            Shrugging it off, not a few seconds later Prowl heard louder more high pitched little cheeping and the pup he had fed coming scooting back. It scurried across the sand to him, and when he saw what came next, he hadn't been ready for it.

            Five, yes, five other green and purple little pups came right after the one he had fed, charging him and immediately grabbing at his pant legs with their little hands. There was so much peeping he couldn't hear himself think, nor figure out what to do as they climbed up his legs and grabbed at the little brown bag he had.

            "Hey! Stop that-hey!" He tried to pick his bag up, defending the last of his treats but one of the pups managed to snag the bottom of the bag and it tore open.

            Three donuts fell to the ground, followed by all six pups that pushed one another to get to them. They snorted and hissed at one another, little hands slapping and pushing one another as they tore the donuts apart and crammed them down. There was one, the smallest one that was getting pushed back and forth, not getting any.

            When the donuts were gone, they sifted through the rocks and sand in case they missed any and then turned their attention back on Prowl. Donut man had the goods, and they wanted more.

            Once again, they tugged on his pants and climbed him, but he willingly gave the bag over to them as it was empty now. They tore it apart and then looked up at him in question.         

            "No more." He wasn't even sure if they understood him, but they had already mugged him for all he had. "Don't look at me like that." One was pulling on his pant leg, whimpering, it's little lower lip quivering. These things seemed a lot more intelligent than what he had heard about.

            After a few minutes of climbing up on the bench and crawling all over him, sniffing him in case he was hiding any, they hopped down and started to scoot about the area. He had expected them to leave but they all stayed within a few feet of him.

            "Worse than seagulls, I swear." Jazz probably would like to hear about this, might laugh at him for it too.

            Watching the pups for a while longer, Prowl finished off his coffee which had grown lukewarm by now and stood up. He brushed himself off as the pups had covered him in sand and made his way up the hill to his squad car.

            There was a sudden chorus of frantic peeping and the loud dragging noises as the pups scurried after him. They struggled to get up the slope, five of them getting up, but the smallest one only getting half way before sliding back down.  It tried again and again and failed, so instead it sat on the bottom of the sand and screeched for the others.

            Sadly, they ignored him and continued to follow Prowl through the little grass path. They skidded to a stop when Prowl turned to face them and held out his palm to them.

            "No, you can't come with me. You have to stay here." He pointed at the ocean, but none of them looked back at it or acknowledge the crying pup in the background. "You can't come with me, don't you have a parent?" It had been obvious they didn't, they were skinny, scuffed up, and alone this late at night with nothing to look after them. "You can't come with me."

            They horded around his legs, peeping softly and rubbing against him in a cat like manner. It was weird, but then again he didn't know anything about them or what they really were like so maybe it wasn't weird.

            He knelt down, frowning as he started to pet each of their heads, seeing they really seemed to enjoy it. They pushed their little heads into his hand and licked his palm, purring on and off.

            The pup in the background screaming made his chest feel heavy, they would have left him to die, but wasn't that how nature worked, survival of the fittest?

            It was a bad idea to take them, and he wasn't sure what came over him but he went back down the slope, picked up the skinniest pup and tucked it under his arm. This was _so_ a bad idea, but he couldn't leave them to die. Maybe he could get them relocated, or at least take a look into that aquarium he heard about. It was better than leaving them to starve.

            When he got to his car, he opened the back door and started to put one pup after another inside. He paused when he was about to set the smallest one inside, suddenly worried as it wasn't looking so well. It was pale and weak, seeming almost like a ragdoll in his arms. He cradled it a moment, not sure what to do, maybe it just needed more to eat.

            Setting it on the floor of the back seat, the others all sat on the seat and peeped at one another, seeming excited. What odd little creatures.

            He was lucky his car had tinted windows and that when the pups hopped up to look out the window as he drove, nobody would see what he had in his car nor when he parted at a local pharmacy and picked up a few things he might need.

            The drive home was only a few minutes, and the drive seemed to lull the pups to sleep, he silently thanked god as it made it so much easier for him to carry them into his apartment unnoticed. As he set them down one by one, they immediately started to roam around the living area. It wasn't long before they were running, or at least the closest to it they could get as they had no legs and they just used their arms to scoot themselves around pretty quickly.

            They seemed to really like zooming under Prowl’s couch and back out again to roll on the soft carpet only to bump the table to the side of the couch and threaten to knock the lamp off.

            "Hey hey-!" Prowl caught the lamp, resetting it and trying to get the pups to settle down but they were all over the place. One was trying to get on the couch and pulled the cushions off in the process, two were wrestling one another, tangling in a little ball to hiss and snort at one another, while the others just explored. The skinny one stayed by Prowl’s feet were he had set him down like the others. It seemed too drained.

            Picking it up and setting it on the sofa cushion that had not been pulled off, Prowl gave it a small pet and headed to the kitchen.

            "Get out of there!" He saw a small tail sticking out of his bottom cupboard, a pup inside climbing all over the pans. When he grabbed its tail and pulled it free, it peeped at him as if it was happy to see him. It had the cutest little face, and he couldn't possibly be mad at it. "Go." He set it down and it slid off across the floor to no doubt get into another cabinet.

            Having a moment to concentrate, Prowl remembered he still had half a fish in the fridge. He had grabbed a few things at the pharmacy as it had a small section of food, but he hoped his leftover would be enough. It was still pretty big, and when he cut it up he cubed it and tossed them on six little plates. For a moment he wondered if he should cook them but figured they ate raw fish naturally and it would be okay.

            Taking the plates out to the living room, he set them down as fast as he could and waited for the pups to notice. Once they did he made sure to push them to their own plates rather than have them shoving one another.

            They all sat on their tails, little hand reaching down for the cubes and popping them into their mouths. Some wagged their tails, others just ate and purred, but the skinny one just stared at the plate.

            "Come on, you have to eat." His heart sank, worried as he might wake up the next morning to a dead pup. Maybe it was diseased, he hadn't thought of that back at the beach, though he probably still would have taken it. "It's good." Picking up a fish chunk, he held it to the pup’s lips, rubbing it against them a bit to see if it just needed to get the taste but it turned its head away and whined. He tried a few more times but it got agitated and swiped at him, scratching his hand and making him drop the fish chunk.  

            Looking to the other pups, they were either licking their hands or licking one another, grooming he assumed. Once cleaned, they scattered about again, leaving empty plates behind.

            Prowl sat by his sad little pup, rubbing its back and listening to it whine until there was a loud knock on the door.

            "Prowl? Prowl are you home." That upbeat voice was familiar, and he suddenly mentally smacked himself in the face as he forgot to call Jazz and tell him everything was all clear and fine. "Prowl? I saw your car."

            "One second!" Panic, how was he going to hide these things?

            Shooting up, Prowl took the skinny pup and brought it to his room, setting it on the bed and closing the door.

            Outside the door, Jazz was listening closely, relieved Prowl had answered but finding him a bit frantic. He heard muffled talking; some things rustling and then something break.

            "Prowl? Are you alright in there?" More loud rustling and a muffled _'don't go under there!'_ and then some more crashing. "Prowl... I'm coming in." Turning the knob, Jazz opened the door and stepped in, seeing Prowl standing in the middle of his living room panting. His hair was a bit jostled and his button up shirt pulled out from one side of his pants and wrinkled.

            "Sorry, I was uh... I was just..." He nudged one of the pups’ tails under the sofa a bit, and it pulled it under and was hidden. The only problem was he wasn't sure where the other four had gone.

            "I was worried when you didn't call in. Figured I would take a drop by the beach. I didn't see signs of a struggle and just wanted to come by to make sure everything was alright." He always did this when he forgot to call in. Plus Jazz didn't live far from him and drove by anyway on his way home. "Are you alright man? You're all sweaty." Stepping deeper into the room, Jazz looked around the apartment and saw a shattered vase on the floor.  

            _Pweep~_

"What was that?" Jazz turned in the direction of the noise but looked back at Prowl when he nearly shouted at him.

            "My phone! My phone... is dying. It's just the noise it makes." Jazz had a skeptical look, just studying Prowl. He was acting... really strange and only got worse.

            A pup scooted across the floor behind Jazz, and Prowl saw, eyes widening and making Jazz turn to look behind him, but the pup had managed to get into the next room, now making Prowl look _really_ off.

            "What's with you, man?"

            "Just tired, now really isn't a good time." Another pup crossed behind Jazz and slipped under the sofa, Prowl tried not to react to it but its tail was sticking out.

            "Ah well... do you mind if I use the bathroom before I go?" Prowl nodded to him, walking Jazz to the bathroom and trying to use his body to block the sofa the best he could. When Jazz was in and the door closed, Prowl rushed to the sofa and pushed the little tail under, earning a bunch of little peeps.

            "Shh!"

 

* * *

 

 

Jazz shook his head as the door was closed behind him, maybe something happened that he didn't want to talk about, but he had never seen him act so anxiously.

            Heading to the toilet, Jazz paused, looking down directly into it and at the little creature curled up inside of it splashing the water. It looked up at him, peeped, and then went on splashing and sticking its little hands down the pipe and scratching.

            _A Mer... a mer pup?_

            The pup climbed from the toilet and dropped onto the small carpet to dry ones feet after getting out of the shower. It sniffed at his legs, and then moved on to more interesting things, like the toilet paper roll. It reached up and started scratching at it, unraveling it and dropping the paper all over its head.

            It _giggled,_ and Jazz found himself smirking as he headed for the door and opened it.

            "Hey man, I know it's your house but it's not polite to not flush." As he got a confused look from the cop, the pup that was in the toilet scooted out between Jazz's legs, covered in toilet paper only to make its way over to Prowl for potential pets.

 

* * *

 

 

"I couldn't leave them." Prowl handed Jazz a cup of coffee, sitting next to him on the sofa and petting the little pup that was snuggled between their thighs. "I was going to but-" He shrugged. "I don't know." It wasn't exactly illegal to have them, but then again nobody wanted them when they had a reputation to tear full grown fishermen apart.

            "You did the right thing. I wouldn't have left them. Little fellas are too cute." Jazz rubbed the tip of the pup's tail while one on the floor was playing with his shoe laces.

            "Think so? I don't know anything about them. I have one that I can't get to eat. I think it's going to die in all honesty." Nursing his own cup of coffee, Prowl shook his head and sighed. "I wonder what happened to their parents. I heard that when pups are seen, adults are usually always by their sides. They were all alone."

            "One isn't eating?" Jazz looked at him, and then looked down at all the pups around them; they all had plump little bellies.

            "He's in my room." Setting his coffee on the coffee table, Prowl got up and retrieved the ill Mer. He handed it to Jazz when he held out his arms, cradling it and even rocking it. "I don't know what to do. I tried feeding it."

            Jazz was silent awhile, thinking as he rocked the weak little thing. He poked its mouth, and it whined, opening it a bit. Its teeth were still growing in, unlike the others who had a nice row already grown.

            "I think this one is the runt."

            "I stopped at the pharmacy and bought some formula and a bottle, but I wasn't sure if it would be good for it." It looked half human after all, maybe it could eat it. "I haven't tried yet though, you came in before I could. I'll heat some now." Darting into the kitchen, Prowl got the bottle and heated some formula, heading back to Jazz only minutes later and handing it to him.

            "Pink?"

            "It was the only one they had, shut up." Flopping back down, Prowl pulled the pup that was between them into his lap and started to pet it while he watched. For a guy with no kids, Jazz seemed to really know what he was doing. He held the pup close; keep it warm against him so it would know it was safe.

            "Come on-" He poked the rubber nib against its lips and it whined, little hands flailing out. Jazz squeezed the bottle and some milk squirt into its mouth and it started to stick its tongue out. It licked its lips and as Jazz pushed the nib into its mouth and instantly started to suckle.

            Prowl perked up, thrilled.

            "He's eating!" The suckling was noisy, and the pup’s little hands opened and closed opposite from one another as if it was trying to knead for more milk. It pushed against the bottle as if it wasn't getting enough, and Jazz would bounce it gently to settle it.

            "I just think it's still too young to eat solids. I heard there is a vet that recently moved to town who knows a lot about these things. I'll do some digging and see if I can't get ahold of him. If you want, that is."

            "Yes, probably be better for me to know all I can if I am going to be taking care of them." At least until he can rehabilitate them, because as of right now they would starve on their own.

            Together they watched the pup drink, its little eyes half lidded. The suckling died down when the bottle was about three fourths the ways empty. Belly now full, the pup peeped and cuddled against Jazz to rest.


	2. The Vet

Settling down a hot cup of coffee, Jazz pushed it close to Prowl, who had his elbow on his desk, head in hand. Eyes closed, he tipped forwards now and again only to catch himself and sit back up.

            "Long night?" Sitting himself in a chair right by Prowl’s desk, Jazz lifted his own coffee to his mouth and sipped. He smirked when Prowl peeked an eye and locked onto the coffee.

            "They don't stop." sitting up, he took the coffee and took a long sip. "They make so much noise. I haven't had a full night's sleep in two days." Deep blue bags hug low under his eyes as he licked his lips and took another sip.

            "Where have they been sleeping?"

            "I put them in the bathroom at night. I folded up a comforter and put it in there for them to lie on. I lock them in there when I'm here working and at night. I figured they would all just... sleep. But they keep scratching at the door and crying. _All of them_ , all six of them cry and scratch and I can't tell you how many rolls of toilet paper I have gone through. They keep just tearing them up." He should have expected them to play with the toilet paper but the crying and scratching kept him awake. "When they do finally quiet down, the sun is coming up and I have to leave for work. Plus, they don't like being locked in the bathroom for most of the day, but I can't let them out they destroy the place if I am not watching." Another sip of his coffee and Prowl just shakes his head. "I don't know, maybe taking these things in was a bad idea. I think I'm in over my head."

            "Well man," Jazz leaned forwards in his chair, "I think I have some good news for you." He waited for Prowl to look up at him. "You remember that vet I told you about the other night, the one that takes care of mers and stuff? When I had asked if he was the guy he sounded a little put off and asked if I worked for that aquarium deeper on the island, I said no. Sounded like he didn't like the place, maybe he worked there before and moved down here." Jazz shrugged and leaned back. "Either way, I told him I didn't and that you had found some pups on the beach and that one may be sick."

            "Yeah, did he tell you anything on how to make it better? I feed it as often as I can and it seems to be getting better. It started moving around on its own last night."

            "He told me he would have a look at them as soon as possible, so I gave him your address and told him we would meet him tonight when we got off shift. Figured if it goes south it would be better for the both of us to be there. Not my style to leave you high and dry with some stranger."

            Prowl nodded, lazily flipping through some of the paper stacks that were on his desk. He took a deep breath and signed off on some, sliding them across the desk and tried to work the best he could.

            "I went back to the beach this morning, I'm paranoid that I took them and their parent was somewhere. I don't know how far they leave them, what if it just left them there to go hunting?"

            "Were there any tracks?" The night Prowl had found the first pup; it had left deep grooves in the gravel and sand from dragging itself. There had been no tracks of larger grooves or even claw marks anywhere that would signify an adult being around to drop them off.

            "No, and I even walked along the beach a bit further to try and see if maybe it had beached itself and died someplace but still nothing. I really do think they were alone, or abandoned."

            "Well, why not wait until the vet takes a look at them, maybe he can tell you more." Jazz shrugged but he could see the worry on his partners face. It had been sort of funny, Prowl had never had any kids or romantic interest as far as Jazz knew. He had always come off as sort of a hard ass; hard to get along with, but deep down Prowl had a soft spot. Perhaps hidden by several titanium walls, but it was there.

            "I think you're doing just fine, man. I think you just need time to figure them out, and let them figure you out. I like the little guys; it might be worthwhile keeping them around. Who knows, maybe when we finally get one of the calls to take care of an adult mer on the beach we will actually know what to do." Usually higher ranked officers handled stray mer calls, usually to remove them from populated areas and relocate them but nobody ever said to where or how they did it. Talk about it was rather hush-hush, which made Prowl suspicious. It had perked his interest a little when Jazz said the vet seemed to not like the place, maybe he would reconsider bringing the pups there.

            "I need to grab more fish before I go home. I chopped up and fed the last of the one I had to them last night. I'll stock up what I have and grab more formula for the little one, that and some earplug and sleeping pills. If I have to go another night without sleep I think I'm going to lose my mind. I'm afraid the neighbors might hear them and ask what the hell is going on."

            "I really don't think anything will happen to you if you are caught with them. I'm telling you this as a cop, that there isn't anything wrong with fostering them until they can live on their own." That was true, except it wasn't exactly smiled upon to have a mer in one's company. "Stop worrying about it my man, it will be fine."

"I think this one looks like it would be a Pancake." Jazz pressed a pup to his face, nuzzling it and listening to it purr against him. Its little tail wagged frantically back and forth, loving the attention.

            "I'm not naming it Pancake, give him to me-" Prowl took the pup and set it down on the floor with the others, watching it scoot away and jump on another to instantly start chewing on its little fins.  The one it bit screeched and rolled over, trying to play bite it back.

            "Come on man, Pancake’s a good name."

            "No, it's not." Prowl murmured as he tried to pull the pups apart. "Besides, I already have names picked out for them. Had nothing else to do last night while I was awake staring that the wall." Giving up with the pups, he stood up and faced Jazz. He pointed at each Pup and started to list the names he picked off. Scrapper, Scavenger, Hook, Mixmaster, Longhaul, and this one is Bonecrusher." Prowl could recognize them as individuals by now even though their markings were almost identical. Each one had a slight difference that he could pick up on but Jazz didn't really care who was who, as long as he got to play with them he seemed content.

            "Pancake is way better, man." As Jazz put his hands on his hips, there was a knock on the door. Both Jazz and Prowl made eye contact and nodded to one another. Prowl went to the door, opening it a just enough to see a rather lean and lanky man standing on the other side. He had a neat white shirt and jeans and carried a case with him.

            "Are you Prowl or Jazz? I'm Ratchet, the veterinarian you called for." Ratchet held out his hand and Prowl shook it instantly.

            "Yes, yes I'm Prowl." He opened the door more so Ratchet could step in. He closed it behind him so anybody else who might be wandering the halls couldn't sneak a peek at what was inside. "This is Jazz, my partner-" Prowl looked at Jazz, "Ah... my work partner." Ratchet didn't seem to care about the comment; instead he made his way right over to where all of the pups had clustered themselves. One was chewing on the end of the throw rug while two others groomed each other.

            Ratchet had scanned the ones that seemed to be playing and brought his attention to one that was laying curled up on a pillow Prowl had set on the floor.

            "Is this the one that wasn't eating?" Ratchet moved over to it, gently setting his hand on its back and listening to it purr and look up at him.

            "Yes, that's Scavenger." Elbowing Jazz as Prowl heard him mumble pancake under his breath, Prowl just stepped close to Ratchet’s side. "I had a bit of cod left from the other night and cut it up for them but this one wouldn't eat it. I had bought baby formula at the pharmacy earlier just in case and it ended up taking the bottle." Watching on as Ratchet picked the pup up and looked into its mouth, he shrugged. "I wasn't sure if human type of formula would have been good for him, but he seems to be getting stronger."

            "It's better to have baby formula than kitten formula." Ratchet ran his hand along the pup's tail, looking at the top and at the rest of his fins. "Mers are not so different from us. Most of their anatomy is the same, give or take a few things." Or a lot of things. "But they are capable of eating certain human foods.  At some point they may like fruits, and, of course, lots of fish." Putting the pup down, Ratchet opened his case and pulled out his stethoscope. He held the bottom against his hand to try and warm it up before putting it against Scavenger who peeped at him and tried to grab at it. "Eventually, they will start to talk."

            "They can talk?" Jazz seemed thrilled. "Like, actually speak like we are right now?" He watched Ratchet nod.

            "They can read too, if you teach them." He moved his stethoscope all around and finally pulled it out of his ears and hung it around his neck. "Like I said, they are not far from us humans. There is a lot about them that isn't understood. They are just as intelligent and emotional as we are." Ratchet moved onto another pup, and then another, repeating his examination. "Was something around this one's neck when you found it?" Ratchet turned and showed Prowl the pup he had first encountered.

            "Scrapper. Yes, he had one of those plastic soda tabs around his neck. I cut it off when I found him." Ratchet raised his eyebrows quickly, seeming impressed.

            "And you're sure there was no adult around?" Another nod from Prowl and Ratchet sighed. "Probably was pouched. These pups are emaciated, but not because they are sick. They are still about two weeks out from being able to feed themselves; it's unlikely an adult would have abandoned them. It's highly unlikely. You're lucky you found them when you did; Scavenger would have died in a day's time if you hadn't found him. The others probably had days left themselves."

            "Well, I figured I would take them and see if the aquarium would take them." Prowl jumped at how fast Ratchet whirled around to face him.

            " _Don't_ take them there."

            "Why-" Prowl tried to ask but Ratchet was back facing the pups. He pets them and rubbed their little bellies. He paused a moment, seeming to glance up at something. "You lock them in the bathroom?" Ratchet had noticed the scratch marks on the bottom of the door.

            "When I go to work and at night, but they cry all night long, I can't get any sleep."

            "Don't lock them in at night, if you have a big bed, keep them with you. Mers are _very_ social creatures and they will benefit more from it. Plus, if they cry all night I don't doubt they have separation anxiety. Whenever you can make sure you play with them, touch them, talk to them, they will respond and will understand boundaries after a while. It will take time, and you will need to be patient, these are... very young pups. "As for the one you are bottle feeding, its teeth are growing in, slowly but they are coming. I say another week of the bottle and he should be able to finally eat solids like the others." Prowl nods, listening closely to Ratchet and watching him rub the pups little fins. It's funny how he seems to know all of their sweet spots and they roll over on their backs for him to keep petting their bellies. There is this genuine smile of happiness on the docs face. "Be sure to keep them a little moist at least during one part of the day. They can have dry skin but not for long periods of time or it will crack and become open wounds. Also, they do need to exercise, and I know there is a community pool somewhere in town. If you can, take them there to swim as often as you can, I am sure you won't have an issue getting in." Prowl did have an advantage as a cop. "The chlorine won't be good for their skin but as long as you give them a bath when you get home they will be alright."

            "Okay." Prowl stood as Ratchet stood.

            "Like I said before, you shouldn't lock them up, it will be better if they can roam. Buying them toys will keep them busy during the day. Blocks, squeaky toys, stuffed animals, anything in the toddler section at Toys R Us will do just fine. Sometimes even dog toys do even better when they are really teething, trust me." Picking up his case, Ratchet watched the pups ran around the room. "Oh, and one last thing," He looked at both Prowl and Jazz, "they are all males." Shuffling through his pocket, Ratchet handed Prowl a card with a phone number on it. "That is my personal cell. If anything happens, you can reach me at _any time_. I live in a small house along the beach, opposite of where you found these guys. If you have an emergency you can call the number or drop by the address on the card. Don't take them to the aquarium. If you can't handle them I will take them."

            "I won't... I think I can manage now." It was a lot of info but it was more than he had before. "Do you mind if I ask you how you came to know so much about these creatures?" Prowl wanted to ask before Jazz did.

            "I-" Ratchet paused, still looking at the pups, "I have a few in my company. Changed my life, for the better I like to think. I try to do all I can for them now." Clearing his throat, Ratchet shook both Prowl and Jazzs' hands and bid them a good night.

            "Well that went better than I thought." Jazz sat himself on the floor, letting two pups climb into his lap and start to play. He played with their hands, patting their own bellies with them.

            "What did you think he would do?"

            "I don't know man, take them? I was afraid of that the most."

            "He said he had some in his company. Do you think he has pups of his own, or an adult?" Jazz shrugged at him and for a while they were silent.

           

* * *

 

 

After Prowl had said his goodbyes to Jazz, he warmed a bottle for Scavenger and sat on the sofa with him. He had been thankful Jazz had come over and helped him play with them a bit, as they seemed tuckered out and lolled around the living room after they had been fed.

            Scavenger suckled loudly, as always, his hands opening and closing and sometimes catching Prowl's shirt. While one hand held into the fabric, the other continued to open and close until the bottle was drained and his belly full. He stared up at Prowl with sleepy eyes, yawning when he pulled the bottle away and brought him to his room.

            "Let's hope this works." He set Scavenger down on the bed, and then one by one picked up the other pups and set them down. They all peeped softly, watching him closely as he put some baggy pajama pants on and a white undershirt.

            Climbing into bed, he pulled the covers over himself and flicked the TV on that hung on the wall. Late night news droned on, some woman with blond hair reading a report about a car crash and some upcoming weather. All dull really.

            As he got comfy, the pups gathered around his sides, curling up into little balls to sleep along him. Scrapper and Mixmaster stayed tucked under his arms while Scavenger stayed right by Prowl's head on his pillow. Hook and Longhaul laid by Prowl's hips while Bonecrusher settled right on Prowl's stomach. Some of them started to knead, suckling on the blanket only to eventually stop as they fell asleep in a little ball.

            Prowl took turns reaching around to each one and rubbing their backs, feeling and hearing them purr and peep. This was much better, so much better and he was warm. Something about having them all around felt right.

            He stayed up for a good hour, trying to make sure the pups were really going to sleep and not just jump off the bed, but they stayed. They were quiet and slept peacefully, happy to be next to Prowl. They probably felt much safer, warmer, and happier.

            Eyes growing heavy, Prowl yawned and set his TV on a timer before letting himself sink lower into the covers to sleep.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Like most mornings, Prowl would wake before his alarm clock had time to, but unlike most mornings he didn't pop from his bed and rush to get to work. Instead, he lingered under the covers for a while, inspecting the pup that surrounded him.

There were three at either side of him, at least two rolled over onto their backs snoozing away. One was half turned while the rest were perfectly curled up into little balls. If he shifted even the slightest amount, a few of them would start to purr and even snuggle closer against him.

He wasn't sure how long he had just sat there and watched them, silently enjoying watching their little bodies rise and fall as they breathed, but he couldn't stay here and marvel them all day.

With careful movements, Prowl did his best to remove himself from bed without disturbing the pups. It was fruitless and some of the pups awoke and peeped at him in protest for waking them so early.

"Shh." Getting to his feet and fixing the blankets, Prowl gently rubbed the bellies of the pups that had woken. He couldn't help but smile as they rolled onto their backs, yawned, and closed their little eyes once more while he got himself dressed.

Heading into the kitchen, Prowl turned on his coffee pot and removed a mug from the cabinet and five small plates which he stacked neatly on the counter.

Tiredly, Prowl dropped two spoonfuls of sugar into his mug and then popped it under the coffee pot and waited for it to brew. In the meantime he turned to the fridge, removing a plastic wrapped fish and a carton of milk.

Bending down and removing a small pot from the lower cabinets, Prowl filled it about halfway with water and set it on the stove. Setting the burner on low, he then removed the pink bottle from the sink rake and filled it with milk.

Screwing on the top, he gingerly sank it into the pot water on the stove. As far as he knew this was the best way to warm a bottle without the milk inside getting chunky. That is, if he watched it closely. Perhaps later he would ask one of the female officers for advice; though he wasn't sure he wanted rumors of him possibly having a child to spread around the office.  

_Peep~_

Looking over his shoulder, Prowl spotted Scavenger at his bedroom doors opening. He rubbed one of his little eyes, peeped again, and then scooted across the floor until he sat himself next to Prowl's feet.

"Hungry?" Prowl spoke softly, smiling down at the little pup as it rubbed the side of its face against his leg. It yawned again and waited patiently, only peeping when Prowl looked down at it. "I'm making breakfast now." He was relieved that Scrapper seemed in better shape today. Even though the little thing still tuckered out relatively quickly after moving such a short distance, it was a start.

Keeping an eye on the pot of water, Prowl got right to work slicing up the plastic wrapped fish. It wasn't too large, but it was enough that he could distribute fish chunks evenly on the five plates he had set out.

Behind him, several new tired peeps could be heard and the soft sliding sound of pups dragging themselves across the tile flooring. In a matter of moments he could feel a few of them tugging at his pant leg.

"Okay, okay." Taking a few of the plates into hand, Prowl moved across the room and set the plates down. The pups followed closely behind, chirping and jumping in excitement as the plates touched the floor and they could dive in.

Placing the plates about a foot away from one another, it gave each pup enough space to eat without it thinking the other might steal from it.

Standing back, Prowl watched the pups pick up fish chunks with their little hands and stick them in their mouths. They were not very quiet eaters, but it was cute nonetheless.

"Alright," Prowl wiped his hands on his pants and turned around to see Scavenger, the smallest pup still waiting by the counter for him, "your turn." Heading back to the stove and turning the burner off, Prowl removed the bottle from the water and gave it a small shake.

Squeezing some of the milk out onto his hand, he nodded to himself as it wasn't too hot to eat. Perfect.

"Alright," Lifting Scavenger up into his arms and letting lie on its back in his arms, he held the bottle to its mouth. Immediately he latched on and suckled, purring every few gulps as Prowl leaned back against the counter.

By this point, Prowl could hear the coffee pot behind him click to life and start to spurt a hot stream of coffee down into his empty mug. It smelt wonderful, but he wouldn't touch it until Scavenger was full.

Already some of the pups had finished eating and were making their way around the kitchen. The more lively ones chased each other tails or occupied themselves by weaving in and out of the kitchen chairs. 

The still sluggish pups peeped softly as they sat in place, sniffing at all the empty plates to make sure all the fish were indeed gone before scooting off to try and find a place to curl up and nap.

Suddenly Scavenger released the bottle, licking his lips and purring as his belly was now plump and full.

"Full?" Prowl gave the pup's belly a gentle rub before setting it down on the floor. He stroked the back of its head all the way down it's back, pausing a moment to rub the little nub like fins still growing out from its back.

As it scooted off to play with the others, Prowl turned back to the counter and removed his mug from the coffee pot. It was still nice and warm, even after he poured a little bit of milk into it and stirred.

It tasted wonderful, though he couldn't linger on it for long as he had to get ready for work. It wasn't that he was late- he was used to getting up early, but he would be if he didn't gather his things.

Taking a big gulp of his coffee, he set the mug back down on the counter and started to move around the apartment.

First he grabbed his bag, setting it down on the floor and unzipping it so he could toss things in it as he moved about. First, he wrapped up a few snacks for himself that he would eat later on break. Next would be the reports he had filled out but not finished. A first for him, but then again back then he didn't have six pups to take care of.

Heading back into his bedroom, Prowl moved over to his personal desk and started to go though and stack all the papers and manila folders he would need.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, the pups zipped back and forth across the floor. They tackled one another, bit into each other's little tails or arms and screeched before running off again. They chittered at one another, scooted sideways, rolled onto their sides and wiggled as other pups would just pounce on top of them.

Scrapper, who had watched Prowl moved around the apartment, watched him place his black bag on the floor. At first it didn't seem too interesting, but upon seeing Prowl toss in some snacks, Scrapper perked up with interest.

Scooting over to the bag, Scrapper sniffed it and grabbed at the shiny zipper until it opened enough that he could get his head inside of it.

As he had thought, there were goodies inside that he wanted. Two cosmic brownies still wrapped and perfect at the bottom of the bag. The treats taunted him, making him work harder for it but alas, his little arms were just too short.

Scooting closer to the bag, Scrapper plopped himself right into it, chirping in delight as the treats were now in his little hands. Now, if only he could open it.

Back outside of the bag, Prowl came rushing out of his room, a stack of papers in his hand.

Without looking down, Prowl dropped the papers into the open bag, squishing Scrapper down on the inside of it. He zipped it quickly, not hearing the muffled peeping coming out of it as the other pups were making too much noise for him to notice.       

Tossing the bags strap over his shoulder and standing, Prowl took his mug off the counter and downed the last big of coffee inside of it. 

"Alright," He clapped, capturing the pup's attention for a mere second, "You all probably expect me to lock you in the bathroom, but Ratchet said it's better for you to roam. You all have to behave, do you understand?" He paused, seeing the pups sort of ignoring his mini speech and return to playing with one another. The only pup that watched him was Scavenger, who was curled up on a couch pillow that had fallen from the couch. "You all have to behave, Scavenger is in charge." Prowl smirked as Scavenger wagged its little tail at him. Did it understand him or did it just like when he talked to it, guess it didn't matter, he was cute regardless.  "Behave, that's an order." Stepping out of the apartment and locking the door, Prowl straightened his tie and made his way down to the parking lot.

 

* * *

 

The precinct was quiet in the early morning hours, nothing more than a few drunks sitting in the lobby waiting to be processed as Prowl walked by them.

"Morning, Prowl." Chromia raised her hand as Prowl walked up to the desk, tilting his head to her to acknowledge her greeting.

"Morning." He really had wished he had grabbed a second coffee on the way in; despite getting a bit better sleep, he was still a little foggy. "Anything new?" Flipping through the morning schedule, Prowl took note that he was on desk duty today and would have normally griped about it considering sitting and signing papers for hours was a bore, but he couldn't be happier. If he finished early, he would be able to clock out early, meaning he could run to the store and grab the pups some toys the play with. He had felt bad he had nothing but crumpled up pieces of papers for them to bat back and forth, but they didn't seem to mind. He was more worried about them munching on something they shouldn't, like his work shoes or the ends of his table.

"Just a few calls about some drunks staggering about the beach," Chromia lifted her own coffee cup and sipped it while her free hand was frantically typing away at new prison logs. "You know how it is around here, nothing fun happens before eleven." She winked at him as he closed the schedule. "I put your reports in your bin."

"Thanks." Nodding to her one more time, Prowl tuned and made his way to his office which was located at the back of the building. Once inside, he set his bag down and immediately left the room, heading for the section all the officers report bins were located to grab his current work.

Back inside of his office, the black bag wiggled and flopped onto its side. There was a faint peep, and then the sound of the zipper sliding open as the pup pushed itself out. It was perhaps lucky Prowl hadn't zipped it all the way and left enough room for it to at least squeeze itself out along with several of the papers Prowl had dropped in with it.

It sat in the center of the room for a moment, licking its chocolate covered lips as it realized this wasn't a familiar room. It didn't even smell like Prowl's home, so where had it gone.

Curious, it scooted over towards a stack of books, sniffing them and touching them until they toppled over. After it sniffed each one and deemed them uninteresting, it moved to a stack of papers close to Prowl's desk chair, knocking those over too.

For a moment it peeped in excitement when it spotted something that looked like Prowl from across the room and scooted over to it.  Perhaps it was too young to realize it was nothing but a coat rack with one of Prowl's extra jackets on it, but it purred at it as if it was him.

Whining when the coat still ignored him, the pup rubbed against the racks pole harder. It whined and reached up, tugging on the coats bottom as it demanded some tender love and care.

Standing up on its tail to try and make itself a bit taller, it bit the cuff of the coats arm and tugged, pulling the coat and the rack down onto the ground.

The muffled crash startled the pup, but as it tried to scoot away and hide, the coat that had been on the rack fell and draped itself over it.

Peeping a little louder now, the pup scooted about, trying to get the coat off its body but only managing to drag it around the floor and catch the papers it had knocked over earlier to scatter them about even more.

"What the hell?" Prowl opened the door to his office, watching his coat move around the floor frantically, and then pause as he spoke.

_Peep!_

Rushing to the coat and yanking it off the pup, Prowl pinched the bridge of his nose the moment he spotted the little green troublemaker.

"What do you think you're doing?!" At first he was mad, the room was a disaster, but the moment the pup rubbed against him and licked his hand, he cooled down. It was impossible to remain mad at this little thing. It wasn't its fault after all. Plus he should have done a head count before he left the house.

"You're going to get me in trouble." Petting Scrapper’s back, Prowl stood up and closed the door to his office before anybody saw what was happening. "Look at the mess you made!" First he stood up the coat rack and hung his coat back up, and then he moved around and reorganized the papers the pup had so kindly spread about.

Picking Scrapper up and tucking him under his armpit, Prowl sat himself at his desk and opened one of his drawers. Inside there were only a few folders, but it was empty enough that when he placed Scraper inside he fit nicely.

"You stay in here." Snagging the stress ball off the top of his desk, Prowl gave it a squeeze then handed it to the pup who was more than happy to review it. Almost immediately it started to chew on it, but it was fine, as long as that kept it busy and out of trouble while he worked.

It would be too much work to leave and bring it home. Plus, it was a good motivator for him to finish his reports faster.

"Good morning~!" The door to Prowl's office flew open and Jazz stepped in as if he was entering in some Broadway musical.

Startled, Prowl slammed the desk drawer shut, having expected someone else to have barged in on him. When he finally processed it was just Jazz, his shoulders sank and he sighed.

"Oh, it's just you."

"Just me, _just me_? What is that supposed to mean? Don't like seeing your main man in wee hours of the AM? I see how it is, it's fine. I understand." Jazz raised his hands, pretending as if he was deeply offended but the smirk on his face told otherwise.

Reopening the drawer, Prowl pulled Scrapper out, holding him up to Jazz who clasped his hands together and gasped.

"Did I miss the 'bring your fish son to work day' memo?" Making sure the door was closed; Jazz rushed across the room and pulled the pup away from Prowl. He cuddled it, pulling on the ball it was chewing on only or it to pull back and peep at him.

"He must have snuck into my bag this morning. Now that I think about it, my bag did seem heavier when I was walking." He shrugged "Little devil ate my brownies."

"Aw, a proper criminal." Pulling the ball away from the pup and setting it on the floor, Jazz tossed the ball and watched the pup go after it. It jumped on it, chewed it a bit, then turned and rushed back to Jazz for him to throw it again. "How are the others?" Jazz tossed the ball again.

"Better, I left them out this morning so hopefully there isn't too much damage when I head home. Though judging from what this one did in the two minutes I was gone, I can't imagine what the house will look like by noon." Prowl spoke as he frantically worked, setting finished and signed reports into one pile while pulling from another. "I have to run to the pet store and buy them some toys. I don't have anything for them to play with at home. The last thing I want is for them to start playing with things they shouldn't. I'm worried they might chew the lamp cords. I unplugged everything, I was so paranoid." Leaning back in his chair, Prowl watched Jazz play with the pup.

For a man who had never touched a pup before the other night, he was so good with them. Though Jazz _was_ just a people person in general. Perhaps it was just his sweet personality; Jazz just radiated with a sort of coolness.

He strokes the pup’s head, praised it, rubbed its belly when it rolled over, and tossed the ball when it wanted to chase it again.

"Do you... want to come with me later to pick some toys for them?" Fingering his pen, Prowl looks to the side, pretending to analyze the next folder as if it was any different than the last ten he filed.

"Hell yeah!" Jazz popped up. "I'm on patrol today so it's cool. As long as no calls come in, I would love too." Jazz tossed the ball one more time, as the pup didn't bring it back, but instead flopped on its side and just squeezed the ball. It yawned, let the ball go and pulled itself back over to Prowl's black bag. It pushed itself inside, curling up into a little ball to attempt for a small nap.

"I'll meet you in the back at noon then." 


	4. Chapter 4

Allowing his car to coast smoothly down a decline, Prowl glanced over to Jazz who sat in the passenger seat beside him. In his lap Scrapper sat, his tail slightly curled around his body. It hadn’t taken long for the pup to become curious and scoot himself up to the window, placing little webbed hands upon the cool glass. Fascinated by the passing land and houses, he peeped every so often, as if distracted by it all. 

               “I thought owning a cat might be troublesome but this-” Slowing the car down at a stop, Prowl glanced over again to see Jazz gently playing with the pup’s tail. Rubbing the tips gently, he seemed to enjoy how smooth Scrapper’s skin was. At times he wondered if it would always stay this smooth or would he grown out of it like baby fur. He supposed only time would tell.

               “I love it.” Smiling as the pup suddenly perked up, something having caught its attention. It moved closer to the window, pressing its flat nose against the glass and sniffing. “It’s amusing to see what they can get themselves into.” Just the other day one had unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper and dragged it throughout the apartment. Terribly entertained, Jazz had laughed himself sideways while Prowl chased guilty pups around.

               “Just what I need,” Prowl took a sharp turn, making the pup at the window slide a bit, “you encouraging their bad behavior. I already have to deal with you, I don’t need six more.” The corner of his mouth perked up when he heard Jazz chuckle to himself.

               In truth, Jazz had been everything he had hoped for when it came to a partner. Well trained, patient, understanding to a fault, he wouldn’t trade Jazz in for anybody. Having had to tolerate novices who would punch themselves in the face every time their gun recoiled against them, Jazz had been a light at the end of the tunnel when he had arrived at the office. At first his goofy nature had been off-putting, frustrating Prowl as it seemed he couldn’t focus, but in the heat of the moment, Jazz bloomed.

               From then on the years had brought them closer together, working cases on and off before finally Prowl put in a request for Jazz to be his partner. Since then they have been inseparable. Whether Jazz knew it or not, he had been the only one Prowl could really trust.

               Pulling into a mostly empty lot, Prowl allowed his car to coast into an open spot. From there he placed it in park and turned the engine off.

               Across the way, cramped between a small pizza parlor and a fishing shop sat a pet store. The sign above flickered, some of the letters burnt out and struggling to remain lit, who knows the last time the bulbs had been replaced. 

               Looking to his right, Prowl’s eyes immediately went to Scrapper in Jazz’s lap. No longer amused by the outside world, the pup had turned its interests to Jazz’s face. Papping Jazz’s cheeks and squeezing them, it peeped up at the highly amused policeman. Squishing Jazz’s lips together to make a kissy face, it seemed to laugh, or at least peep in a manner. When it stuck a little finger up Jazz’s nose, Jazz looked up to see Prowl staring at them and giggled.

               “He loves me.”

               “I can see that.” Looking back at the pet shop, then back at Jazz, he grunted to himself. “Now we figure out how to get him inside.” It hadn’t dawned on him until they pulled into the lot that they might have trouble bringing a mer pup into the shop. Sure, dogs and birds were allowed, but mers… that was different. The island was more accepting of them than the mainland dwellers, but still… it was a mer… but a pup. “He’s not exactly a legal pet.”

               “Well he isn’t illegal either.” Jazz did have a point. There had been no law on the island that condoned anybody for owning a pup, and then again people just naturally stayed away from them. There had been an odd silent agreement between the animals and the humans to just simply… coexist.

               There was a pause of silence between them before Jazz suddenly shifted in his seat. Unbuttoning his neatly pressed shirt, he gently pushed the pup inside and began to re-button himself up.

               Head popping out the top of Jazz’s collar, Scrapper peeped. It wagged its tail, causing the bottom of Jazz’s shirt to flail about. If Scrapper had been a little smaller and less excitable perhaps it would have worked.

               “That’s a terrible idea.” Prowl watched the top two buttons of Jazz’s shirt pop open and the pup’s arm fall out. Immediately it grabbed for the remaining buttons on the shirt, playing with them until Jazz pulled him out.

               “Maybe we can just tell them it’s our really ugly baby.” Picking Scrapper up under his little arms and setting him back in his lap, Jazz went to work fixing his shirt. 

               “That idea is even worse than the last.” Reaching over and taking Scrapper, Prowl tucked the pup under his left arm.

               “What are you doing?” Watching Prowl exit the car, he scrambled to do the same. “Prowl?”

               “Ultimately there is no sneaking him in. If they ask why we have a mer pup I’ll just tell them were on a rescue case.” They could question why Animal control hadn’t handled it, but then again nobody wanted to question a cop as serious as Prowl. “We just say we need some supplies before we release him back into the wild, maybe flash our badges.” Already walking towards the shop, Jazz jogged closely behind.

               “Wish I had thought of that.” Catching up and walking along side of Prowl, Jazz glanced down at the pup tucked snugly under his arms. Immediately upon eye contact it peeped at him and wagged its little tail. At no point had it tried to snake away from Prowl, instead it rather enjoyed the ride.

               Pausing just outside of the automatic doors, Scrapper peeped again when they magically opened. This time he squirmed a bit and Prowl gave him a gentle squeeze to settle him as he stepped in. Side eyeing the only employing at the front register, Prowl breathed a sigh of relief as the teen seemed uninterested in them entering and kept his attention down at what he could only assume was his phone. Good, at least they could avoid a spat for a little while.

               “Let me see him-” Taking the pup out from under Prowl’s arm before he could even react, Jazz rushed to the closest toy aisle. From there he stood at the aisles opening, kneeling down and placing the pup on the cool tiles. “Go on! Go!” Slapping his thighs, Jazz watched the pup cock its head at him in confusion, but when it turned round and saw an assortment of things to chew on lining the walls and overflowing in bins by the floor, it perked up. “Go!” Giggling to himself, Jazz watched Scrapper scoot off, amused by how well and how fast the little creature could move on a smooth surface.

                Scooting to the closest bin, Scrapper leaned inside, sticking his short stubby arms in and pulling out the first toy he could find. It squeaked as he squeezed it, and he peeped back at it, pulling out toy after toy and tossing them all behind his still wagging tail.

               Rubber balls, ropes, stuffed items, bones, and more came flying out of the bin, and once it was empty, the pup moved onto the next.  Repeating the process until he found a stuffed duck, Scrapper bit it and started to toss it around the aisle. He paused when a stuffed pig came into view and pounced on that instead. Curling around it and biting it all over, it squeaked.

               Standing up and crossing his arms as he watched the pup beat up the pig, both Jazz and Prowl stood at the opening of the aisle.

               “I’m going to take a look around, see if there isn’t anything else I should grab before we get kicked out.” The stuffed pig let out another high pitched squeal as Prowl waved to Jazz, letting him know he was going to wander.

               Skipping most of the aisles, Prowl made a direct route to the dog beds. Having to leave his bedroom door closed throughout most of the day, the pups were without a bed to lie on. If they didn’t like to shred things as often as they did perhaps Prowl could have trusted them in there with his case files which were stacked nearly on a side desk. With his luck they would find a way to not only knock the stack over but shred it all over the apartment too. It had been better to lock them out, though he had felt bad considering that left them with only his hand-me-down couch for them to pile onto. At least of he bought a big doggie bed they would have something to lay on during the day and even when he was home and moving about. 

               Walking down the aisle and pausing at little doggie beds, Prowl rubbed under his chin. Buying six small ones didn’t seem logical; perhaps one or two large ones seemed best.

               Walking further down and stopping at the larger beds, Prowl reached out and touched each one. One was softer than the other; one had a fluffy top while another had a more coarse fabric. Some were thin and others were puffy, and ultimately he removed two large puffy ones. At fifty dollars each, hopefully they wouldn’t shred them.

               With the doggie beds stuffed under one arm, Prowl made his way back to the toy aisle, not surprised at what he saw when he rounded the corner.

               Arms overflowing with toys, Jazz tried his best to pick up every toy Scrapper brought and dropped in front of his feet. It was sort of comical each time he bent down he dropped at least three toys.

               “Come on.” Stepping into the aisle and scooping the pup up right out of a toy bin, Prowl tucked the pup back under his free arm and led the two of them to the register.

               Getting into the only open lane with the teenager who hadn’t paid much attention to them when they had first walked in, Prowl held his breath when they looked up.

               “Did you find everything you were loo-” Pausing and looking at the pup under Prowl’s arm, the cashier blinked as it wagged its tail at him. “Ah-” He sat back when it peeped and simultaneously Prowl and Jazz said,

               “He’s our son”

               “Police business.”

               Looking at one another, both Prowl and Jazz looked back at the confused but not alarmed cashier.

               “Right… okay, is this all?” They waited for Jazz to unload his arms on the counter before starting to beep everything over the scanner.

               “And these, please.” Holding out the tags to the doggie beds, Prowl allowed the cashier to scan them and then waited patiently for the total. While Jazz put the bags on his arms and waited for Prowl to cash out, they both said goodnight to the cashier and made their way out.

               “That was close.” Laughing all the way across the lot, Jazz tossed the bags into the back seat and climbed into his usual passage spot.

               “Our son?” Tossing the doggie beds in the back and getting behind the wheel, Prowl handed Scrapper over to Jazz and started the car.

               “I panicked.” Setting the pup down on its back in his lap, Jazz started to rub its soft little belly. Plump and certainly well fed, Scrapper yawned, showing off long little rows of jagged teeth.

               “Did you?” Putting the car in drive and driving through the open park space, Prowl wheeled around to the street entrance. “Well, if he is related to either of us, it’s you.” Prowl waited for Jazz’s snort and laugh before smirking himself.

                Accelerating onto the street, Prowl zipped them home.

 

* * *

 

The lock clicked softly as Prowl turned the key and pushed the door open. He had half expected the pups to be scooting about but instead the living room was bare.

                “I’ve got toys!” A split second after walking in an jostling the bags, Jazz watched pups pop out from all over. Two hidden under the couch popped their heads out and hurried over to him. On top of the couch beneath a pillow a pup came out and yawnd. The last two, who scooted out from the kitchen sat at the doorway for only a moment before rushing over to Jazz the moment they spotted him.

                “Oh good, they didn’t seem to break anything.” Setting Scrapper down on the floor to join the others all bouncing by Jazz’s feet, Prowl went to the corner of the room and set the doggie beds down.

                Behind him he heard Jazz invert the bag of toys, raining them down all over the floor for the pups to chase. Immediately there were shirking peeps of joy and loud squeals from the toys as they were munched on.

                Pouncing on stuffed pigs and ducks, the pups shook their little heads, tucked in on themselves and rolled side to side. At some point they even used their little tails to slap at the toys, as if they were really trying to kill it.

                “Would you like some coffee?” Pulling the tags from the doggie bed and standing, Prowl brushed himself off. “I mean if you want to stay awhile,” Clearing his throat, Prowl rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side.

                “Yeah man, I would love one.” Getting down on his knees and rubbing as many bellies as he could, Jazz smiled up at Prowl. He looked back down when a pup bit into his hand. It growled softly, it’s little tail wagging as Jazz pretended to be wounded. “Ah~!” Falling down on his side and pulling the pup close, he rolled onto his back and held the pup in the air.

                Catching the other five pups attention, they swarmed around Jazz, nipping at the collar of his shirt, nosing his cheeks, and crawling all over his chest and belly. They rolled on and off of him, peeping happily as they each got a turn to be lifted in the air.

                Turning into the kitchen, Prowl moved over to the counter and switched the coffee maker on.

                While replacing the filter, he listened to the next room over, hearing Jazz rolling over, pups squealing whenever he grabbed them and rubbed their bellies extra fast. There was something… nice about it. The noise, the commotion. He had grown so used to a silent apartment that he had forgotten what it felt like to have company. At least company he enjoyed.

                Patiently he waited for the coffee to brew, watching the liquid spurt from the nozzle the moment it completed and filling his cup. Pulling it out when the coffee stopped, he slid the second cup under and waited for that too to fill.

                He had done this so often he had remembered the exact amount of sugars Jazz liked and just how much cream he wanted. A nice light brown tone while Prowl himself preferred his coffee nearly black.

                Taking the mugs and moving back into the living room, Prowl paused at the door when he saw Jazz’s face nearly buried in pups. He reached up at Prowl and made a grabby hand kind of motion.

                “Avenge me.” He whispered as a pup licked his cheek and another licked his nose.

                Walking over to the couch and sitting, Prowl set Jazz’s mug down on the coffee table and sipped his own.

                Wincing when he burned his lower lip, Prowl took a second to blow on his coffee. While doing so, Jazz arose from the pup pile, scooting on his knees across the room to the coffee table to claim his mug.

                “Thanks man.” Raising his mug to Prowl in some form of a salute, Jazz took a sip and stood. “Man that’s good.” Taking a longer swig of his coffee and sitting down by Prowl, together that watched the pups move back to the squeaky toys.

                Sitting in silence sipping their coffee for a few minutes, the two of them simply enjoyed watching the pups toss the toys around. Highly amused by two pups tugging one another back and forth with a pull rope, they growled at one another and flapped little arms at each other in attempt to distract each other.

                “They are cute.” Jazz spoke softly now.

                “They are. Never expected mers to be so-”

                “Adorable?” Keeping his hands cupped around his mug, Jazz set it down in his lap. “I know. Lotta bad news about these guys goes around, but when you get to know them, they aren’t so bad.” They may have left painful little bites, but it was all in good fun.

                “Mhm.” Watching Scrapper and Hook pounce on one another and bite each other’s tails, they slapped and headbutted each other until a third pup joined in on the pile.

                “Have you thought about what you’re going to do when they get big?” Already the pups were a decent size, perhaps no larger than a domestic house cat, maybe a little bigger. As of right now they were manageable, but how long before they weren’t? Prowl’s apartment was only so big and as far as he knew mers grew to be pretty big.  Plus, he living inland on the island, which left the pups no way of getting to water easily without dragging themselves a few miles.

                Pausing right before taking a sip of his coffee, Prowl was silent. After a moment he set his mug in his lap and just watched the pups who were now slowing down. Already two of them had sniffed out the doggie beds and were kneading it out.

                “I’m not sure-” Lowering his coffee when Scrapper scooted up to him, toy pig in his mouth, Prowl watched him drop the toy in his lap. Pleased with himself for the offering, Scrapper’s fins flared and flapped, extending his neck and head for pets. “I’m really not sure.” Caressing the side of Scrapper’s head, Prowl scratched under his jaw and chin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, one full year this hasn't been updated due to it being cut off for specific views. But it's been completed and now it's finally available for everybody. I will be updating with one chapter Every Friday and hopefully (if im on time) The Wrecker Babies Winter special will post on the 22nd (if not then the 29th)

Weeks had passed since Prowl had first found the pups, and in those weeks he had been pleased to find them settling in. There had been the initial worry that his neighbors would have picked up on the pups within a few hours of him even having obtained them, but so far no complaints.

For the most part the pups were quiet, usually only becoming vocal when they were hungry. By this point, the smallest pup that needed to be bottle fed had started eating small chunks of fish like the others, leaving Prowl to only bottle feed it once at night. By the following week he had weaned it of the milk substantive completely.

Every morning and each night Prowl would prepare six small plates of chopped up fish. It never mattered what kind he brought home, as long as it had come from the ocean the pups were happy to have it. Each meal was rather large, and Prowl should have separated the meals into three times a day but being at work so frequently had limited him to twice a day. With that he would make sure each plate was stacked and each pup was so plump they might pop before he left for his usual shift. Upon returning home he would immediately feed them, as their peeps of hunger would only get louder if he detoured for even a moment.

Even then they were quiet due to Prowl always being just a room away when he finally returned home. The most noise they generated came from when they were playing with one another. With their fat bellies bouncing on the floor it often made little thumping noises. Despite the muffled noise, Prowl tried to keep their play time restricted to the living room where the floor was carpeted. At least in there the noise would be muffled for his downstairs neighbors.

Their squeaky toys were often the loudest, and Prowl had learned simply from trial and error which ones to buy that had softer squeakers on the inside. He was pleased to find out the pups didn’t care how loud toys squeaked as long as they could bite into something and toss about, they were content, and in the end that was all Prowl could hope for.

While on patrol, Jazz had a habit of stopping by to make sure the pups hadn’t gotten themselves into too much trouble while Prowl was out on his shift. Not always being able to make it home during his lunch break, Jazz would make a stop by, and more often than not the pups would be sleeping.

Only once in awhile would Jazz find them getting into something they shouldn’t, like Prowl’s closet. They had learned very quickly that pups seemed to take a liking to dress shoes, more so the leather that they were made up of. Jazz had first caught them dragging a pair around by the laces, at first seeming to just like the string, but later Jazz spotted the gouges’ in the leather made by their little fangs.

Three pairs of nice shoes later and Prowl learned to put things he really values anywhere that’s higher than three feet. Not only that but he learned to lock the pups out of his room, only allowing them to move about the living room, kitchen, and the bathroom, though the toilet paper was often unrolled and shredded from time to time. Only once did Jazz catch the pups shredding one of the doggie beds they had bought, littering fluff all over the living room floor. Whether it had been ripped accidentally or they just had gotten bored and torn it up he wasn’t sure, but they  _ all _ looked guilty. That in truth had probably been the loudest they had ever been, when they were being naughty little creatures. In truth, Prowl could never actually get mad at them, something about their big red eyes and soft whimpers always made his stone cold heart melt.

There had been brief moments of discipline, soft scolding really, nothing too serious as the most trouble the pups had found themselves in were due to the shoes. It had only taken one time spraying with a water bottle for Jazz to find out that it was an ineffective method of discipline. In fact it seemed to make them stronger.  

By the third week, Prowl had noticed they seemed a little bigger. If anything they had certainly gained weight under his care, but it wouldn’t be more than three months before they no doubt would outgrow his apartment… and then what?

He had considered moving closer to the water, much like Ratchet he would have wanted to find a house on the beach. Luckily the island had no shortage of houses along the water, and money wasn’t an issue. What _was_ the issue was Prowl living alone. For years he had been content with his little apartment, it wasn’t too big and it wasn’t too small. If he had decided to up and move into one of the many beach houses, he would be left with a lot of unused space. At least not at first, but when the pups did finally outgrow him and leave his _nest_ so to speak, he would be left alone with all that empty space. Would it really be logical to up and move just for six baby sirens? In a year’s time they would be old enough to handle themselves in the wild, but still they would be small, and still even then they would have had a parent mer to guide them. Without one, Prowl had often wondered if his pups would all make it if he had just… released them when they got too big.

The good news was that Prowl didn’t have to make that choice right now. The pups had indeed grown since he had found them, but they were still small enough to be carried. No bigger than a human infant, Prowl had no issue handling them as they currently were, so he didn’t worry the matter until he had too. For now he could sit back and enjoy them as they were, small, cuddly, and soft.

 

* * *

 

He flipped through a few papers, his pen scratching across every other one before he flipped it face down to his right.

Scrapper had been curled up in his lap, tucked in a tight ball. Every few minutes Prowl could hear a faint suckling noise, and when he looked down he could see Scrapper sucking on the end of his own tail.

His little hands opened and closed, little clawed fingers splaying out as he kneaded against Prowl. Every so often he could feel little claws sink past the fabric of his jeans and into the tender flesh of his thigh. It stung and he would hiss, shifting as gently as possible to try and keep the pup from waking while also plucking its claws from his skin.

“Mmrp~” Scrapper pulled his arms back, tucking them against his chest as he rolled onto his back into Prowl’s lap, exposing its soft underbelly to him. Without hesitating, Prowl set his pen down and gave the plump belly a light pat, once again getting the soft _mrrp_ noise.

To his left, another pup was curled on top of one of the couch cushion pillows. Half asleep, it had been chewing on the end of a stuffed fish toy, dozing off every few bites to perk up when it squeaked.

The rest of the pups had found themselves wandering around the living room floor. It wasn’t often they would wander out of the room if Prowl was in it. For the most part, they would stay either in their un-shredded doggie bed, be curled up on the floor somewhere playing with a toy, or watching the TV. As strange as it was that they seemed to like TV, whenever Prowl turned it on at least three of the pups would curl up near it and watch. Whether they understood what was on it or not, he didn’t really know, but it kept them preoccupied, so he allowed it.

Picking up his mug from the end table, Prowl nursed the now cold coffee. Having neglected it after getting a little too involved with finishing this week’s reports, he took a big swig anyway.

A faint wrapping knocks sounded at the front door, and even if Prowl hadn’t heard it the first time, the pups had. All six heads perked up and cocked to one side, listening for the second knock.

“It’s open.” Prowl spoke out, returning his mug to his lips to finish off the last of the stagnant coffee.

The door creaked open and Jazz popped his head in, immediately exciting all the pups. They chirped and scooted over to him as fast as their chubby bodies could take them, even the one that had been curled up on Prowl’s lap had slid off the sofa to greet him.

Swarming around the officer’s legs, they rubbed their faces against his calf, demanding attention from him. They wiggled and bounced, getting more excited when he crouched down to pat their heads.

“There’s all my favorite little sea people.” A few pups flipped over and patted their bellies, insisting Jazz rub there, and he did. Belly after belly, he picked up each pup and gave them a quick cuddle before setting them down and standing back upright.

“Are you _sure_ you want to tag along tonight?” Prowl asked as he watched the pups follow Jazz towards the sofa. Immediately Scrapper had climbed back up and curled himself back in his usual spot on Prowl’s lap now that he had gotten his belly rub from Jazz. “I know you rarely get night patrols off… so I don’t want you to feel like you _have_ to do this with me. I don’t want to drag you around when you could be,” Prowl trailed off, not really sure exactly what Prowl did when he wasn’t at the station. It had been so rare that they were ever apart he always knew Jazz worked like he did.

“I’m already caught up on all the latest late night dramas.” Holding up a pair of swim trunks, Jazz smirked, “Yeah man, I wanna do this.”

After Ratchet had suggested Prowl take the pups to the pool for a little bit of exercise, he had tried to plan a night he and Jazz could go. Of course it would have to be after hours, that way nobody would bother them or the pups while they played. That was the easy part, considering both of them had a key set to nearly every building on the small island, so getting inside was no issue.

For the first few weeks, the bathtub had kept them content, and in truth the pups had yet to show any sort of disappointment towards the smaller swimming space. Either way when they touched the water they were happy, but for the sake of Prowl’s floor, taking them to the pool once in awhile would be better.

Despite the pups not caring about the tub size, Prowl knew it wasn’t enough. They deserved room to play, and move around more than two feet each way. The last thing he needed was to have six sausages lying on his living room floor and Ratchet coming back to check on them to see them in such a state. They needed the exercise, the experience, and tonight they would get some, even if neither he nor Jazz had gills or a tail.

“The pool should be closed by now,” Looking at his watch, Jazz nodded to himself, “Usually by seven everybody is cleared out. That should give them a few hours to play.” Squatting down once more to pet the pups who still rubbed against his legs, Jazz grabbed and rubbed at their little tails. When the pup tried to flick it away, he just grabbed it again and chuckled as the pup squealed at him and flipped on its back. It wiggled, flailing its arms at him until he grabbed webbed hands and kissed the palms. “Now we just have to figure out how to get them all there.”

“I bought a large crate last week while replacing the bed they shredded.” Scrapper peeped in his lap, his tail curling as Prowl rubbed his back. “Figured it would look less conspicuous, plus all six should fit in it.” He heard Jazz chuckle.

“Won’t be look strange? They _do_ sort of look like people, it might look like we have a bunch of babies in a crate.” If not for their vibrant green and purple skin, they would have at least half passed for humans.

“They don’t have to stay in the crate in the car; it’s just an easier way to get them outside and inside without drawing too much attention.” He knew Jazz understood, he was just messing with him.

“It’s a good idea; they get wiggly if you hold them under your arms for too long anyway.” Plus they took up too much space when stuffed inside of a shirt, so this was a great idea.

“Alright,” Picking up Scrapper as he himself stood up, Prowl set him on the floor and moved towards his room, “let get the crate.” Vanishing for only a few seconds, Prowl came back out with a large dog crate. Setting it down on the floor and squeezing the latch, the door swung open with a loud screech. “Help me get them.” Prowl scooped Scrapper back up, and then another pup by the TV. One by one they placed them inside of the crate until all six had been accounted for.

Upon closing the door and clicking the small lock, both Prowl and Jazz stepped back to watch the pups gather at the door. They peeped curiously, little hands grabbing onto the metal bars.

“I’m surprised they don’t seem upset.” Jazz watched them stick their little fingers through, reaching for them.

“I think that’s because at this point they trust us, or at least I hope they do.” This sort of behavior was good for them, but later in life, trusting too much could be deadly. Was that something he was supposed to worry about now? He wasn’t sure; perhaps something he would have to bring up with Ratchet when he came by again to check how things were going.

“Alright, let’s head out. Do you mind carrying them?” Prowl asked as Jazz was already picking the crate up.

“Nope,” With a bit of effort, Jazz lifted the crate, and the pups inside started to peep frantically. “Shh, shh, you’re alright.” Jazz cooed, and instantly the pups settled, their heads bobbing around as they tried to see what was going on. “We will be there soon, don’t worry, you won’t have to stay in there for more than a few minutes.” As Prowl opened the front door for him, he stepped out and stared towards the elevator.

 

* * *

 

The lock clicked and the door creaked open enough to allow Prowl to pop his head inside. Looking both left and right, he scanned for anybody who might still be in the pool house.

The room would have been completely in darkness if not for the pools inner lights engaged under the water. Bright and blue, as the water rippled it gave the room a strange sort of peacefulness.

"Clear-" Prowl's voice echoed softly as he pushed the door open all the way and stepped inside. Jazz followed closely behind him, crate in hand and pups peeping at attention to the new location.

"Should we turn the lights on?" Stepping a few feet from the pools edge, Jazz set the crate down.

"No," Prowl continued to scan the room, wanting to make _sure_ nobody was going to see what was about to transpire, "the pool lights are bright enough, plus it might draw attention outside if someone sees the lights are still on." He heard Jazz grunt behind him and then the soft squeak and _click_ of the crate door opening.

At first the pups just sat at the open door, flat noses flipped upward as they sniffed the chlorine filled air. Pushing past one another, they slipped out of the crate and sat at the edge of the pool. Sitting side by side, they looked at the water and then at each other.

They peeped amongst themselves, then all leaned down and started to tap the water with their little webbed hands. Patting harder and harder until they started to splash, they wiggled and one by one leaned forward to dive down into the pool.

"Oh~!" Jazz jumped in place as he watched the pups zip around under the water's surface. "Look at them go!" The pups were nothing but little green blurs under the water. They zipped one way, and then another with ease. "Look how much faster they are!" Grabbing at the bottom of his shirt, Jazz peeled it off of his body and tossed it onto the floor. Kicking off his shoes and pushing his pants down, he launched himself into the pool.

Shielding himself from the splash, Prowl sighed and watched the mass that made up Jazz's body glide around under the water. Several of the pups zipped over to him, swirling around him and jumping out of the water.

They squealed, splashing back down to swirl around Jazz some more. When he came up for air, two of the pups came up with him, rubbing against him and peeping at him to keep playing.

Scrapper breached the water, coming down hard near Jazz, splashing him only to do it again and again until Jazz retaliated. Grabbing the pup as he launched out of the water, he held Scrapper up above the water and laughed. Scrapper wiggled, slipping from Jazz's grip with ease now that his skin was wet and slippery.

Rolling up the bottoms of his pants to his knees, Prowl sat down by the pool’s edge and dipped his feet in. Despite the water feeling like a dream on his legs, Prowl hadn't been too interested from the start in swimming. Instead he just wanted to watch, as Jazz and the pups were rather entertaining.

To his right, a pup was clawing at the edge of the pool from the water. Its tail flapped in the water and is scooted itself up higher and higher until finally it managed to climb from the pool. Once out, it took a moment to rest and then scooted a few feet from the edge. As quickly as its little arms could drag it, it scooted right back to the edge of the pool and jumped in.

"Heh-" Prowl chuckled softly, watching as the pup repeated itself a few times. He watched it until he felt something tickling at his legs, and when he looked down he could see Scrapper and Hook patting his legs.

"Join us, Prowl~" Jazz said in a sort of monotone voice that made it seem like he was part of some siren cult. "Join us~" The remaining pups gathered around Jazz's sides, backing him up with soft peeps. "The water's nice and warm."

"Is it? You do have six pups around you, they could just be-" Prowl's body suddenly jerked when Jazz hugged his legs and tugged him towards the water. "Jazz!" He snapped as he was unable to get a good grip on the slick floor.

Jazz had given Prowl no time to argue further, dragging him off the edge of the pool and deep into the water. Together they sank towards the pool’s floor, and the pups swirled around them.

It had been surreal at first, hearing the pups as clear as day under the water as they did on land. Not only that but just watching them breathing under the water was strange, but there they were, twirling around the two of them and chittering in delight.

The moment Jazz released his legs, Prowl recovered quickly and lunged forward under the water. Hands missing Jazz as he swam backwards, Prowl could see that sly grin on his face even in the dimly lit water.

The pups jumped from the water like little dolphins, tailing after Prowl and Jazz who chased one another around the pool. Upon coming up for air, they splashed one another, Prowl cursing and telling Jazz he was getting desk duty for a week for dragging him in.

 

* * *

 

They sat side by side, their feet in the water as they watched the pups swim from the far side of the pool all the way back. By this point they had slowed down, now tired from all of the excitement. No longer did they zip about, but instead the far end of the pool.

Pulling at the bottom of his shirt, Prowl sighed as the sopping wet fabric clung to his skin, much like the rest of his clothing. Doing his best to wring it out back into the pool, he snuck a glance at Jazz.

He had never really noticed how sculpted Jazz's body was. Sure he knew Jazz worked out, but up close and personal he could see every muscle perfectly carved into him. It hadn't helped that his body, which was still wet had a beautiful sheen to it, only emphasizing how handsome he was.

Swallowing hard, Prowl tore his eyes away before Jazz caught him gawking. Instead he looked towards the pool and focused on a pup swimming up to them, something hanging from its mouth.

"Good boy," Jazz said as the pup popped its head out of the water, a ring of keys in its mouth. It placed them in Jazz's hand and he immediately tossed them back across the pool.

Instantly the pup turned tail and went after them, zipping to the far end of the pool and diving down for the key ring.

"Hehe," Leaning back on his palms, Jazz sighed in content. Life couldn't be better, "we should do this more often." Swishing his feet in the water, Jazz listened to Prowl grunt in response.

"We should." Reaching down as the pup returned with the key set, Prowl smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WB Winter special will indeed post on December 22nd

It had been a little past midnight when the two of them had finally arrived home from the pool. Having crept back into the apartment building as quietly as possible, Prowl had scrambled for his keys. Sorting through them and locating the proper one before the pups’ peeping became too loud, Prowl slid it home into the lock.

When the door swung open, Jazz was the first one in, crate in hand as he stepped into the living room. Placing the crate in the center of the room and squeezing the latches keeping the pups in, he opened the little metal door.

"Come on out," Jazz cooed, lifting the back end of the crate a bit to encourage the pups to come out, "we made it." Three pups tried to exit the little door first, running into one another and squirming before finally all popping out together. The rest followed them, peeping thoughtfully as they looked around the room. Upon registering they were back home, they started to scoot about like usual. One moved up to Jazz's feet, sniffing at his shoes, and then his pant leg before getting a gentle pat on the head.

"Night's not over yet." Closing the door, Prowl shrugged off his jacket to hand on a rack by the door. "They need to be washed." Despite the time that had passed, Prowl hadn't forgotten what Ratchet had told him about their skin. The public pool would do them wonders and keep them from feeling cramped, but the chemicals in the water would damage their skin if it wasn't washed off later.  The last thing Prowl needed were pups with dry cracking skin when they spent the majority of their life dragging themselves around on it.  "A good scrub and rinse should get the chlorine off, as long as it doesn't sit on them overnight."

"Sure man, how do you want to go about it?" Eyes that had been looking at Prowl returned to the pup by his feet, not biting and tugging on his pant leg playfully. They growled and huffed, scooting their little body back, but failed ultimately to move Jazz.

"I'll just fill the tub a decent amount and wash them from there. Do you think you can hand me one at a time while I wash?" At first the sink had come to mind, but even with one pup at a time it would probably be too cramped. At least with the tub there was room, and if Prowl did them individually it would make for a smaller mess.

"That I can do." The pup below Jazz had rolled onto its belly, growling softly as it still struggled for his pant leg. Drumming the tips of his fingers along the plush little underbelly, Jazz couldn't help but laugh when the pup's fins flapped in response. Its tail curled and flapped down against the carpet, a bit impatient that it wasn't capturing Jazz as it had thought.

Taking a moment to absorb the scene, Prowl turned on his heels and headed into the bathroom. Pulling open a small closet, he pulled out a few facecloths, two towels, and a small cup. Tossing them down by the tub, he knelt down on the squishy bathmat. Taking a moment to make sure his kneels were comfortable, he leaned into the tub and turned the nozzle.

The water didn't need to be warm, but Prowl made sure when he stuck his hand under the spray that it was at least lukewarm. Considering the pups naturally lived in the cold waters around the island, even though they were tropical waters, the tub didn't need to be warm. The pups were content with any kind of water as long as they could toss themselves around in it.

As the tub reached the halfway mark, Prowl turned the water off and stood. Heading back into the living room and scooping up the first pup in arms reach, Prowl headed back to the tub.

"You're fist." Pressing the pup against his chest as he returned to the side of the tub, Prowl gently lowered them down into the water. Right away the Pup responded, flipping its fins and dunking its head under the water. Bubbles started to flood up from its mouth as it blew into the water and then sat up to peep playfully at Prowl.

"Not tired from all that swimming?" He sure as hell was, but the pup in the tub was still tossing and turning in the water. With limited room, it couldn't zip about like it had in the pool, though it didn't seem too bothered by that fact.

Picking up one of the facecloths and dunking it into the water, Prowl removed the bar of soap sitting on the far end of the tub and lathered up the cloth. Once satisfied with the amount of suds, he started to gently wipe down the pup's back.  

_Peep~!_

The pup rolled in the water, exposing its soft underbelly to him and patting it. Without hesitation, Prowl swiped the cloth over it a few times, taking care to get the creases between the pup’s fins.

It flapped them a bit harder, some of the water splashing up at Prowl who held up his arm defensively. He couldn't help a small chuckle as he understood why Jazz was so drawn to them. They were cute, terribly cute and terribly affectionate. When Prowl wasn't dumping water on it, the pup would roll back onto its belly and stand on its tail to look over the tubs edge at him.

Spreading out one of the larger towels on the floor, Prowl turned back around to pick up his now groomed pup. Placing him gently on the towel and folding it over him, he ruffled it, hearing frantic peeping on the inside.

"Almost done." Prowl said, as he kept ruffling. "There." Flapping the ends of the towel open, he put his wet hands on his hips and smiles as the pup looked up at him. They wiggled, fins flailing to dry off before it was shooed from the room.

"Ready for another?" Jazz said at the door, a pup tucked under his arm.

Holding out his hands, Prowl accepted the next pup and put him in the water right away to get the exact same reaction as the last pup. The water was splashed, bellies were exposed, frantic peeping was exchanged and Prowl did his best to talk back to their sass.

By the time Jazz had returned with a third pup, he had paused just by the threshold of the door to watch Prowl work.

The cuffs of his shirt had been rolled up to his elbows, and his hair still had a gloss to it due to the pools chemicals. Despite looking utterly exhausted, he was as handsome as ever. That little smile, his small laughs every time a pup splashed him, it was something special.

Catching himself staring, Jazz cleared his throat and stepped into the room, the pup under his arm fishing through his pocket and pulling out all his loose change.

"You know," Jazz starts, attempting to get his change back from the grabby pup, "you would make a pretty good father."

"Haha!" Unable to help the bellow of a laugh that burst past his lips, Prowl extracted the second pup from the tub and ruffled the towel over it. "You know, I never really thought about settling down, marriage, kids, and a house." He had been content with what he had, and as far as he and everybody else knew, he was married to his work. Dedicated as ever, Prowl mingling with anybody but himself or Jazz, was unusual. "I'm happy with what I have, you know?" Letting the wiggling pup go and watching it scoot away and between Jazz' legs, Prowl accepted the third pup.

"Yeah man, I know what you mean." Leaning against the door frame and watching Prowl place the pup in the water, he continued."But I like seeing this side of you, the softer side." The side that smiled more often, laughed more often, and just seemed to radiate. Prowl wasn't exactly the most emotional person, but he usually kept himself professional.

"Don't go spreading that around, the station might think I'm getting soft." Quite frankly, he liked his intimidating appearance- it certainly kept irritating people from bothering him on duty. He wasn't the type to hang out by the water cooler and chat with the others. Sitting with Jazz in a random parking lot with a coffee and a few donuts was what he liked.

"Your secret is safe with me." Winking behind his visor, Jazz returned to his duties of catching the remaining pups. Every five minutes he would re-enter the bathroom with one more for Prowl to wash. When it finally came down to the very last one, Prowl had asked Jazz to feed the pups while he finished up.

Scrapper, the last pup to be washed and lathered chewed on the rim of the cup Prowl had been using to rinse each pup. He tossed it about while Prowl rubbed the facecloth over his little fins along his lower body, taking care to get every bit of the chemicals from his delicate skin as possible. Once done he confiscated the cup with a protested peep and rinsed them down.

"Alright, all done." Running his forearm across his forehead and sighing tiredly, Prowl reached in to pick Scrapper up. Instead of grabbing the pup, he missed as Scrapper ducked into the water. "Scrapper-" Prowl began as he reached in deeper, only being wet with a face full of water when Scrapper flapped his fins extra hard. "S-Scrapper!" Snagging the pup's tail, it slipped like a bar of soap from Prowl's hands. He had forgotten just how slippery they could get when wet, and the second time he grabbed their body lead to the same result.

There was really nowhere the pup could go, but he kept on dodging Prowl until the he finally smartened up enough to drain the water. Once the tub was empty and the pup sat at the bottom of the tub, he glared at Prowl, his gills flaring.

"Don't give me that look." Tossing the towel down over Scrapper and scooping him from the inside of the tub, Prowl stood up on aching knees. "Just as stubborn as Jazz, you know that?" Wrapping up the squirming creature like a little burrito, Prowl held them close to his chest.

_Peep~! Peep~!_

Puffing out his cheeks and scrunching up his face, Scrapper kept up his tough look for only a few seconds before deflating. Settling in Prowl's arms, he leaned up and licked at the underside of Prowl's jaw.

"Being cute isn't going to save you now." Allowing a few more licks, Prowl finally set them down on the floor. Unrolling them and watching them shake and lick their little hands, Scrapper peeped up at him thoughtfully. "Good and clean now?" Responding to Prowl's comment with a small peep, Scrapper turned and scooted his way out into the living area.

Cleaning up the bathroom a bit before joining all the pups and Jazz in the living room, Prowl had been met with a rather amusing sight when he finally did return to them.

Passed out on the sofa, Jazz sat at a slightly slumped angle, his head back and a pup in his lap. He had one hand on it and one hand on a pup curled up to his right. At some point sleep had gotten the better of him while he was playing with the pups and no doubt closed his eyes for _just a moment_.

A third pup was also sitting next to him, licking its little arms and then nibbling on its own fin in an attempt to further groom itself. They all looked tired, and thankfully the remaining pups around the flood had also started to slow down.

Scrapper had been joined by one other pup in one of the doggy beds, yawning and rubbing their little eyes. Yes, it was time for bed.

Heading across the room and slowly reaching out towards Jazz, Prowl's hand paused midway. After a deep breath, his hand continues. Gently removing his visor and setting it down on the coffee table, Prowl guided Jazz downward to lie on the sofa.

"I'm up... I-I-m-" Jazz mumbled tiredly as his eyes opened slightly.

"Shh." Picking up the pups around Jazz and repositioning them to lie against his stomach, Prowl removed the blanket that was neatly folded over the top of the couch. Unfolding it and draping it over Jazz's body, Prowl tucked his partner in the best he could before turning towards the two pups in the doggie bed.

Scooping them under his arms and flicking the light off in the living room to give Jazz some peace, Prowl headed into his own bedroom. The sixth pup that couldn't fit under Prowl's arm followed closely behind and waited patiently for Prowl to pick him up and set him on the bed when the others were put down.

Unbuttoning his shirt and changing into some better sleep attire, Prowl tossed his covers back and climbed into bed. Laying flat on his back and waiting patiently for his pups to cuddle in their usual spots by his sides, he settled.

Eyes heavy, he stroked the pups curling up around him, allowing them to lick his fingers until sleep was heavy over all of them. Together they drifted off, tomorrow another day.

 

* * *

 

A lovely smell filled Prowl's lungs as he took a deep breath, eyes not yet opened as he stretched below the covers. Rolling onto his side and cuddling into his pillow, he took another deep breath, suddenly realizing it was familiar.

_Coffee. Fresh coffee_.

Eyes flickering open and blinking away the blurry world around him, Prowl propped himself up on his elbows. He yawned, lazily combing back stray hairs in his face as he inspected the room. The first thing he noticed was the warm pressure that usually was by his sides was missing, and so were the pups that usually slept by his sides.

The sound of soft humming could be heard from the outside of his partially closed door, and only then did Prowl sit up straight. He had forgotten that Jazz had passed out on his sofa and that he had allowed him to spend the night. Much like Prowl, Jazz was an early riser, but how long had he been awake?

Kicking the covers back and rising from his bed, Prowl rubbed his hands over his tire face while lumbering towards his closet. Quickly he dressed himself in a lax shirt and a casual yet comfortable set of pants. Doing his best to smooth the wrinkles out, he moved towards his door and out into the main living room.

"Good morning~!" Jazz was sitting on the sofa, a steaming mug in his hand. Across the room the TV had been switched on, the local news droning on about the weather. The volume had been too low to really hear anything; Jazz had probably just put it on to muffle the sound of himself getting up and the pups peeping around him. "Sorry about last night, I didn't mean to crash on the couch." Leaning forward and picking up another mug from the coffee table, Jazz held it up to Prowl.

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind." He really didn't. Jazz was more than welcome to stay as long as he wanted. "It was late." Taking a ginger sip of his coffee, Prowl licked his lips. God it was good, how Jazz could do it was beyond him.

"When I got up, some of the pups also got up with me. They wouldn't stay in place and I was worried they would wake you with all their noise." A pup had pulled itself up onto the sofa, working its way onto Jazz's lap. It bumped its head against his arms, it's little hands pulling at his sleeves. "I fed them, figured if they were busy eating there would be less noise." Which was true, but he had worried when the pups that had been with Prowl suddenly came scooting out of his room.

"Must have been tired, normally I would have woken up to the sound of steps in the other room. These things really know how to run me dry." He was still tired, but the coffee was helping, Jazz was helping.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it." Scratching under the pups chin, Jazz leaned back against the sofa.

"I'm glad you're here." The words slipped past Prowl's lips despite being sure he had only said that in his own head. He felt his cheeks flush when Jazz looked at him, a sweet smile on his face, and he tried to defend himself. Taking a long swig of his coffee in an attempt to hide his red cheeks with his mug, Prowl awkwardly cleared his throat when he was done.

"I'm glad I'm here too." Looking down towards the pup he was currently petting, Jazz patted its belly. He played with the little fins at either side of its body, flapping them slowly until the pup moved them on their own.

The morning progressed slowly, both Jazz and Prowl casually talking before finally it was time to go. Jazz had an afternoon patrol he had to get the jump on and later that night they would be together again doing their usual rounds.

Before Jazz had left he had made sure to kneel down next to every pup and give them a good belly rub for good measure. He kissed their little hands, laughing when they grabbed at his visor and peeped at him thoughtfully. Making sure every single one knew that he loved them, he stood, bid Prowl goodbye, and left with a wink.

As Prowl closed the door, he turned around to see all six pups sitting together. They peeped and swayed, watching him closely. With a soft sigh, Prowl moved over to them, kneeling down and patting each one of them on the head.  

 

* * *

 

Days progressed into weeks, and weeks progressed into the first month. Life had progressed as usual for Prowl, despite the additions; he had learned to cope with them. Sure they were bed hogs, splashed water outside of the tub too often, and shredded their little doggy beds now and again, but that hadn't been the real issues.

As time progressed, the pups had doubled in size. At which point Prowl could have carried two under his arms, he now struggled to just lift one off the ground. Picking them up hadn't been the real issue either, the lack of space was.

The already cramped apartment was quickly becoming obsolete. If their grown rate continued to progress as quickly as it had in the next month, Prowl would ultimately be left to make a hard decision.

If he had lived closer to the water perhaps things could have been different, but he lived inland. Even if the island was small, the distance to the shore was too far for the pups to wander back and forth from without having to cross a few streets. Not only that, but Prowl hadn't lived on the bottom floor of his apartment complex either. As comical as it would be to watch a siren try and use an elevator, it wouldn't work. Not because they were not intelligent enough to do it, but the islanders probably wouldn't like that. They coexisted because they kept their distance from one another, letting humans and sirens intermingle was just asking for trouble. Then again Prowl had been accepting, Jazz and Ratchet too, why not the rest of the island?

An argument for another time.

Stroking the top of Scrapper's head, Prowl looked down at the plump pup and sighed. He was worried, and he had kept his worry from Jazz every time he came over, knowing the news of them needing to go soon would crush him. They had bonded over these stupid little fish things, and that smile Jazz always had when he saw them lit Prowl up. Just the thought of never seeing it again had his heart aching, but Jazz was an understanding person.

Deciding he couldn't make this decision on his own, Prowl had remembered he had Ratchet's card. Given to him on the first night they had met when he was worried about the pups, Prowl had kept it tucked safely in his wallet.

He had stared at the card for a few minutes before finally punching the numbers into his cell and waiting. After three rings, Ratchet's gruff voice answered, and Prowl began to explain.

It wasn't long after the call that a soft knock sounded at the front door, and all of the pups sat up, heads cocked. They peeped as Prowl stood and shooed them away, opening the door to meet that white and orange piebald beard. His hair was down and several long streaks of orange and white hair draped over his shoulders.

"Come in," Prowl stepped aside to give Ratchet room to enter, "come in." Keeping the pups back, Prowl closed the door quickly behind the door doctor.

"Thank you." Stepping into the center of the living room, Ratchet’s eyes moved right down to two pups playing on the floor. They each had one end of a toy in their mouth, tugging it back and forth between them. They snorted and growled at one another, tugging harder in an attempt to get the toy all for their own.

Two pups scooted up to him, their flat noses expanding to take in his scent as they sniffed at his pants and boots. Upon deeming him friendly, they scooted closer, climbing into his lap and already reaching for his beard. What was with these things and hair?

Allowing the pup to play with his hair, Ratchet turned his attention to the pup still by his boots. Placing his hand down on its back and gently rubbing up and down, he hummed thoughtfully to himself.

The pup rolled under his touch, wiggling and then grabbing Ratchet's wrist. Biting his fingers and the cuffs of his sleeve playfully, it growled and flapped its fins.

"They look good." Without looking up at Prowl, Ratchet continued to speak, "Well fed, fat, skin well groomed, they look healthy and happy." There was a small pause as Ratchet pulled his hand back from the playful pup and sighed. "That's not why you called me here though."

"No, I-" Prowl began, rubbing at the back of his neck. Across the room, Ratchet gave him a gentle smile. He knew, the moment he had gotten the call and Prowl's voice hadn't been panicked about a pup being sick or injured, he knew.

"Some breeds of sirens grown very quickly, as nature insists on it for their survival. Sirens with the body style of whales or sharks are often larger than normal, resulting in their growth spurts. Some sirens it takes three years to grow to their normal size, others, months."

This shouldn't have come as a surprise, what animal didn't grow into its full size in a small amount of time.

"You have maybe another month before they grow out of this space, maybe less now that they are being fed properly. Which leads me to another point, they are going to eat you out of house and home if they already aren't." They had been, but it hadn't bothered Prowl considering working for the station had paid him well and the extra charge on his food bill really hadn't mattered when Jazz pitched in now and again.

"I wanted your advice on what to do with them. I don't want to dump them where I found them just to leave them to die. Jazz would never forgive me if he found them shriveled up on the shore." Ratchet seemed unfazed by that, at least he was a little more confident in the pups than Prowl was, and then again Prowl still knew little about the species. "I don't want to hand them over to someone else who will just kill them either. I don't know what to do." What he had really hoped was Ratchet taking them, but he had his own things to deal with, his own mers. As much as he wished it, it was unlikely.

"Letting them go is the best option. You don't give them enough credit. If you hadn't found them maybe one or two would have died, but nature finds a way. As awful as it sounds, they would have eaten their siblings until they were strong enough to hunt on their own, which instinct ingrained in them at birth. If you were to let them go, I don't doubt they would be just fine."

"I knew I would never be able to keep them, but-" Trailing off as a pup rubbed itself along Prowl's leg, he heard a husky chuckle.

"But you didn't expect to get so attached?" The good doctor could relate to that. "Listen, Prowl," Placing a firm hand on the cop's shoulder, Ratchet took in a deep breath, "when you're ready to let them go, bring them to my house. There you can release them, it's safer and away from the town's eyes. If the pups have imprinted on you, and I know they have, they will return every season." Almost every season, but Ratchet didn't want to disappoint a proud parent. Prowl's pups were large and more likely to migrate to different regions, but Ratchet wouldn't tell him that, not yet.

"Alright," Taking in a deep breath, Prowl nodded, "it's going to be hard to tell Jazz. He loves them."

"Well, the good news is the island isn't short of sirens, so maybe next spring you may come across more to nurse back to health." The look Prowl gave Ratchet had that husky laugh returning. Pups were a lot of work, and Prowl as much as he loved the six he had wasn't sure he was up for it again."You did a good thing, Prowl."

"Would you like a coffee before you go?" Prowl offered as Ratchet let his hand slide from his shoulder.

"I'd love one." Joining Prowl in the kitchen, they began to small talk about the upcoming goodbye.  


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me I know this is almost two days late but I was knee deep for completing my final for my class and the good news is I have officially graduated, the bad news is its been a nightmare of a month and I feel dead inside,  
> thanks for your patience

As Ratchet had said, the pups had grown to a size Prowl was unsure he could manage in no time at all. It really shouldn’t have been surprising- Ratchet had warned him, after all- but in just five months, the pups had tripled in size.

Having found them when they were no larger than household cats, they had been one step from starving to death. Frail and weak, they were now plump and full of affection. At one point they had been easy to carry, Prowl managing to fit two or three in his arms if he needed too, but now picking up even one was an issue.

Practically the size of actual toddlers now, they were deceivingly heavy little creatures. This in itself really hadn’t been too much of an issue, but fitting them all in the tub was. At this point only two could fit in it at once, leaving four other pups peeping angrily or anxiously around him while waiting for their turn.  Meanwhile, the pups in the tub hadn’t seemed as happy as they had been when they could be fully submerged. Not only that, but their tails often couldn’t stretch all the way in the tub, leaving the space cramped even if only one of them had been in it at a time.

As much as Prowl had tried to get the pups to the public pool as he could, the larger the pups became, the more difficult the trips were. No longer did _any_ of them fit in the dog carrier, and at this point it seemed a little morbid to lock a half fish child in a crate.

In truth, Prowl hadn’t minded the pups in the back seat of his car, their little faces pressed against the glass window as he drove through town. A part of him liked seeing the wonder in their eyes, and the little noises marveled at the streetlights and the quiet sidewalks. It was the way they looked at everything that had Prowl wishing he could just let them out and see, but for the sake of keeping them a secret, he kept going.

Despite Jazz’s help keeping an eye out, Prowl had grown increasingly more paranoid about someone seeing them with the pups. Without a crate to hide them in from prying eyes, Prowl had to herd them into the pool building as fast as he could. That in itself was like herding cats. Already Prowl missed the days the pups would follow him the moment he called. Now, they were easily distracted, wandering around the grass around the pool area until Jazz hurried over to them and scooted them along. Even then, sometimes they would honk in protest, not wanting to listen. Growing larger and more likely to be able to take care of themselves, the pups had shown signs of independence from Prowl. Despite that, the pups still listened more or less when whistled for.  

Back then, the few hours Prowl and Jazz could dedicate time for the pups to get some well-deserved exercise was enough- but, no longer. Already Prowl and Jazz had reached their time limits, staying up till two sometimes three AM to allow the pups to swim, but work always called in the morning. Back when they had first started, the adrenaline of it all had kept them going, but that had faded, and now they were just tired. Work had put strain on the two of them, and Jazz, bless him, had done his best, but they had limits.

Pool nights were sometimes cut short, and back then the pups wouldn’t mind- but the older they became, the less likely they were to listen when Prowl called them from the pool. Instead they would splash at him, peep and flip in the water playfully, wanting him to join them. Some nights he and Jazz did, but nights like tonight where he was utterly exhausted, he just wanted his bed.

Each new visit made getting the pups from the water increasingly difficult to the point Prowl would have to enter the pool himself to catch a pup- which was easier said than done. The pups were ten times faster in the water than they had been on land, and catching their slippery little bodies was near impossible. Eventually, Prowl had resorted to a small pole and net to bring them in.

Regardless of his ability to give the pups as much time in the pool as possible, they were restless during the day. They would pace, honk and peep at one another while getting into things they shouldn’t in an attempt to keep themselves occupied. More than once Prowl had arrived home to several of his good shoes chewed to high hell and shredded couch cushions. Funny enough, the only thing they had never tried to shred were the little doggie beds Prowl had bought for them.

That thought hadn’t stopped the pups from still wanting to sleep on Prowl’s bed. Before, all six pups could fit three at each side comfortably. Now, the bed was cramped, pups strewn about, tails flapping and fins slapping at each other and Prowl in the middle of the night. Sleep had been a rarity these days, and on bad nights, Prowl moved himself to the couch.

Sometimes as he laid there praying for an hour of sleep, he could hear a soft thump from his bedroom. A few seconds would pass before he could hear soft and sleepy peeping from the door. Next followed the soft dragging noise a pup’s body made across the carpet before Prowl could feel a damp and flat nose pressing against the back of his neck.

It nuzzled him, giving a small little lick to coax him to roll over, and when he had, he was met with Scrappers sweet little face. The slits that made up his flat nose spread and his head cocked to the side as he blinked curiously at his tired surrogate.

With a soft sigh, Prowl would scoot back on the sofa, making room for Scraper to curl up next to him. Once the pup settled, Prowl settled in and pass out.

At best, Prowl could manage at least three hours a night of rest. It had taken its toll some nights, leaving him irritable on patrols or his hands shaking as he tried to suck down his third coffee. He was tired, and his face showed it despite how often he told a worried Jazz that he was fine. His pale face and sunken eyes had told a different story.

Nights that had usually been spent on patrol often were spent parked in the local supermarket parking lots taking a nap. At least that’s what Prowl had done when patrolling alone. When with Jazz he stayed awake, alert, duel chugging coffees every few hours despite Jazz telling him it was alright if he wanted to rest. It wasn’t like the island was swimming in criminals. Nine out of ten times night patrols were quiet, most call coming in often regarding teenagers loitering somewhere or a feeble break in attempt.  High speed chases and gun drawn action, just wasn’t a thing here, so taking a nap at three A.M in a closed restraint parking lot really wasn’t terrible.

“I just... don’t know if it’s the right time… or if they are ready.” Playing with the tab of his coffee cup, Prowl slumped in the passenger seat of Jazz’s cruiser. “What if I let them go and they are all dead on the beach the next morning?”

“Come on man, you and I both know that’s not going to happen. We’ve raised them right, plus they are big enough now to handle themselves. Have you seen their teeth lately? They’re like little needles and their claws too.” Taking a sip of his own coffee, Jazz watched a car putt down the dark road and vanish into the night.

“But are they _ready?_ ” Looking up upon feeling a gentle hand squeeze his shoulder, Prowl looked into Jazz’s visor. The gentle blue glow was oddly comforting despite Prowl never being able to see Jazz’s eyes.

“Is anybody ever truly ready to leave the nest?” Giving Prowl’s shoulder another gentle squeeze, Jazz smiled when Prowl reached up and placed his hand over his. He squeezed, a small smile crossing his tired face for only a moment.

“No, I suppose not.” Sitting in silence for a few minutes simply enjoying each other company, Prowl finally took a deep breath and said, “Maybe it’s time to call Ratchet.” The offer had stood, when Prowl was ready, Ratchet would be there to help him through the process of letting go. He had been assured they would be safe, and Jazz was right, he had raised them right.

“Jazz-”

“Yeah, man?”

“Thanks for everything.” The small chuckle had Prowl looking up from his coffee, having been playing with the tab to avoid Jazz gaze. When he locked eyes with Jazz’s face, there was that wonderful smile.

“You don’t have to thank me. There is nobody else I’d rather be doing this crazy thing with than you. Cheers,” Jazz said as he raised his coffee, “to the six fish we adopted and raised right.” Sharing a laugh, Prowl lifted his cup and tapped it against Jazz’s.

 

* * *

 

He had been sitting there for over an hour, phone in hand, simply flipping it over in his palm. On occasion he would click it on, staring at the lock screen and the time as it ticked by. Seven, eight, and now nine at night and he hadn’t felt any closer to a real decision.

So the last few weeks had been rough with the pups, does that really mean he should just up and let them go? Maybe he should give it a little more time; maybe it’s just been an off few weeks. Or maybe it really was just time.

Glancing to his right and looking into the living room where several of the pups could be heard peeping, Prowl spotted two of them playing tug of war with his last good couch cushion. They tugged, hissed, and slapped at one another for it, unconsciously making Prowl smile as he watched them destroy is furniture.

Scrapper sat curled up on the couch, Bonecrusher beside him casually licking at one of his fins. The TV had been on to try and mask some of their noise, mostly their occasional screech or extra loud honk. Nothing had really come of it, but Prowl had already received a few noise complaints from his apartment. In an attempt to make it seem like he wasn’t housing six fish children, he often put on the news or whatever cartoons he could find that might distract the pups from further destruction. Unfortunately, the magic of the TV seemed to have worn off and they had shown little interest in it anymore.

Looking back at his phone, Prowl could only sigh. This was never supposed to be this hard. He wasn’t supposed to get attached, he wasn’t supposed to care. He had hardened himself, and yet somehow these things had broken right through. It seemed like it had been only yesterday he had found them, starved and after his donuts. They were so small back then, sweet and innocent. Now they were little devils of the sea, but they were his little sea devils.

Clicking his phone on for the umpteenth time that night, Prowl slid his finger across the screen and scrolled through his contacts. Pausing on Ratchet’s number, he gave one last glance into the living room before pressing the call button.

Lifting the phone to his ear and listening to the ring sound for what felt like an eternity, Prowl sat back when he heard Ratchet’s gruff voice answer.

“Sorry, I know it’s late, but I wanted to talk about the siren pups.” Prowl spoke after Ratchet’s rusty hello. Quickly assuring Ratchet that none of them needed medical attention, he heard Ratchet grunt over the line.

“This is about releasing them?” There was small pause from both of them, but Prowl nodded before realizing he actually had to speak.

“Yes.” Swallowing a knot in his throat, Prowl continued. “They need room, room I just don’t have here.” God knows he and Jazz had looked for a little beach house, but it was late into the summer season and all had already been rented or bought. “They deserve to swim and eat when they want, not when I come home. They are happiest when they are in the water, and I don’t want to keep taking that away from them.”

“Are you sure about this?” Ratchet asked, patient as Prowl hadn’t answered right away. Of course he didn’t want to let them go, but it was for the best, and he knew that.

“Yes. Is this week good to stop by with them? Maybe two days? It will give Jazz enough time to say goodbye.” Jazz loved those plump little things, and Prowl didn’t doubt saying goodbye would be difficult for him too.

“I’ll be here and you two can mourn your empty nest when you’re done. Though I can assure you, if you really want to raise more, I’m sure more will show up eventually.” They shared a small laugh before Prowl thanked Ratchet and hung up.

        Setting the phone down on the table and running his hands up and down his face, Prowl sat there for a long while. This was it. 

        Sitting up with a soft sigh, Prowl pushed his chair back and stood.Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants, he moved towards the living room, pausing just by the doors threshold to lean against the frame. 

        The pups had slowed down, their frantic noise and movement all but gone now as they lounged about in all different areas of the carpet. 

        Upon Prowl leaning against the door frame, they had all stopped what they were doing to look at him. Each one tilted their heads, their littles noses going as if to sense something was different. A few of them peeped at Prowl, Scrapper sliding off the sofa to scoot over to him. 

        Kneeling down to get to the pups level, Prowl took the green and purple pup’s chubby cheeks into hand and squeezed them together. 

        “I’m going to miss you guys.” Voice all but a whisper, Prowl absently itched under Scrapper’s chin, smiling when the pup leaned into the touch. “I already do.” Sliding his hands under Scrapper’s armpits and pulled him up against his chest, Prowl nuzzled his sea child. It should have been weird and foreign, but to Prowl it had never felt more right. “You’re getting too heavy for me to hold.” Unable to stifle a small laugh. Prowl gives one more good cuddle for good measure before setting Scrapper back down and doing the same to all of the other pups. 

        They gather around him, a soft hum of purrs escaping each pup as they lined up for some love. They licked Prowl’s cheeks, his nose, and peeped in delight when he rubbed the tops of their heads. 

        “Come on,” With a yawn, Prowl stood himself carefully up in the pup pile, “time for bed.” Instantly, the pups followed him to his bedroom. One by one he helped each of them onto the large mattress before he himself laid down in the center of it all. 

        As per usual, three pups at each side, two of them resting their heads on Prowl’s chest, while the rest curl up in cute plump balls around him. 

        For once, he’d never been happier to have the pup’s hogging all the space around him. Soon enough, the bed would be empty and he would be alone all over again. 

 

* * *

 

        “Are you sure this is the right place?” Jazz had been a little skeptical of the location the moment Prowl had lead him to a non touristy part of the island's sandy shore. The beach, though narrow and terribly rocky, was bare of anything but a few squawking seagulls. 

        “Yeah, this is it.” Prowl took a second glance at the scrap of paper he had in his hand just to be sure. “He said it’s further down,” Pointing, Prowl stuffed the paper back into his pocket and started walking, “hidden behind the rock’s.”

        The pups, who had gathered around them at first for a few minutes had started to wander about the sandy shore. Two of them had found a decently sized shell to bat around to one another while the others stayed close to Jazz’s legs. 

        “Well, if I would want to hide a bunch of sea puppies, I suppose this is the best place to do it.” Reaching down and patting one of the pup’s heads, Jazz made haste to follow Prowl. Upon the two of them getting far enough, the pups immediately followed.

        They hadn’t walked for more than a few minutes before a small house came into view. Placed snugly against the wall of rocks, it had been perfectly hidden from the road. With no indication of anybody living down on the rocky shore, it had been less likely for unwanted guest to come and snoop.

        “Look,” Rushing a few paces ahead, Jazz pointed to the little house, a faint orange glow coming from the windows to indicate someone was indeed home, “There it-” Stopping dead and suddenly clasping his hands together, Jazz all bit gasped. “ _ Look! _ ” 

        Prowl had to squint, still a bit far behind Jazz but he could clearly make out what looked to be a red and white pup playing along some of the smaller rocks. It hopped, swatting around some seaweed before it paused when Jazz drew closer to it.

        It peeped at him, scooting back and fluffing out its fins defensively at the man. It’s little back arched and it lowered its head, eyes wide. A loud and terribly high pitched squeal escaped it, warning Jazz to keep his distance. 

        “Oh! No no, it’s alright sweet thing!” Squatting down to the pup’s level, Jazz made sure there was a decent amount of space between them before reaching out his hand and making kissy noises. “It’s alright little guy, I’m not going to hurt you.” He rubbed his fingers together, watching the pup lift its head and sniff in his direction. “That’s it.” Jazz cooed and smiled when the pup inched closer. It’s flat nose still at work sniffing until they touched the tips of Jazz’s fingers. 

        As Jazz slowly flipped his hand and reached to give the pup a gentle pet, a guttural roar stopped him dead in his tracks. The pup under his hand vanished, scooting away faster than he could ever imagine to leave him sitting there in the sand. It had been unfortunate for him that when he looked straight in front of him, a huge siren ten times the size of the pup was barreling at him. Its face was scrunched, feral as it charged, leaving Jazz to scramble in the sand. 

        “Shit! Shi-” He fell back on his hands, unable to get his footing in the sand as he tried to stand. 

        The siren was on him before he could get up, webbed hands pinning him hard into the sand. It leaned down, nose scrunched and needled teeth exposed as it roared in his face. 

        “Jesus Chri-” Throwing his hands up to shield his face, Jazz yelped. 

        “Jazz!” Prowl had started to run the moment he saw Jazz go down, the pups now following behind him. They squealed and rushed past Prowl, hoarding around the larger green mer to nip at his fins. 

        Sitting up, the large green mer‘s vicious look suddenly vanished, replaced with one of confusion as he watched the pups pull at his lower fins. The bites were not enough to break his harsh tough hide, but they were doing their best.

        Looking down at Jazz, arms still thrown over his face, and then up at Prowl who had his hands up to signal to the mer that he meant no harm, the green tilted its head. 

        “Kup!” The large green mer sat up, looking over its shoulder to see Ratchet quickly rushing from the house. “Enough! Kup, it’s alright!” A bit winded by the time Ratchet managed to make it to Kup’s side, he gave the green mer’s shoulder a gentle pat. “It’s alright.” Coaxing him off of Jazz, the startled officer scrambled back as fast as he could until his back bumped against Prowl’s legs.

        Kup huffed, his fins flaring at Ratchet as a few low chitters escape him. He tosses his head until Ratchet reaches out and cups his cheeks.

        “It’s alright, it’s fine. They’re not going to hurt your pups.” A few moments of holding the Kup’s face seemed to have settled him. A harsh sigh escaped his mouth and his shoulders sank, and his flailing fins finally settled. 

        Giving Kup’s head a gentle pat for good measure, Ratchet turned towards Jazz who was currently behind hefted up by Prowl.

        “Forgive Kup, he’s terribly territorial when it comes to his own pups. Since he’s not familiar with you, he assumed you were a threat.”

        “No, man,” Jazz said as he brushed sand from the back of his pants, “I should have known better.” Messing with baby animals when a potential parent was nearby was never a good idea, whether it was something as simple as rabbits, or half ton sirens. “Sorry,” Directing the word at Kup, he watched as the mer flopped his tail against the ground. The little red and white pup that he had seen was now peeking out from behind Kup’s mass, curious. A moment later, several other little heads popped out from behind Kup’s body.

        Eyes lighting up behind his visor, Jazz clasped his hands together a second time, unable to help himself. 

        Squatting down a second time, Jazz directed his question at Kup.

        “May I see them?” He watched as Kup dig his fingers into the sand, unsure at first. He glanced from the pups, then back to Jazz, and then up to Ratchet who smile and nodded at him. With a soft sigh, Kup half turned and leaned down. Upon sitting back up, he had the red and white pup carefully carried in his mouth.

        Plopping the pup down in the sand in front of Jazz, Kup lifted his tail, allowing the other pups to swarm out from behind him. 

        “That's Perceptor, and this is, Blurr, Springer, Drift, Rodimus, and” Ratchet had to turn a bit to locate the last pup, “Whirl.” He pointed at the rather crab looking siren. 

        Prowl’s own pups peeped in delight, hoarding quickly around the other pups to play. In a matter of moments, the quiet shore was filled with playful shrieks and siren pups scooting around the sand after one another. 

        Kup, who had taken up the liberty to start to groom one of Prowl’s pups curled up behind Ratchet, allowing the humans to converse while he worked. 

        “Are you ready?” Ratchet asks as all three of them watch the mayhem.

        “Not really, but it’s what’s best.” Something warm pressed itself against the small of Prowl’s back, and he looked to the side to see Jazz smiling softly at him. A reassuring hand, which now moved up to rest on Prowl’s shoulder.

        “It’s time.” Voice as soft and as sweet as ever, Jazz nodded to his partner. 

        They watched the pups play for an hour before finally the sun began to sink past the horizon line. Sky stained pink, it was beautiful. 

        “How do I do this?” Prowl asks as Ratchet walks with him towards the water.

        “Call them first, and then, let go. They will know it’s time.” Walking until they were about ankle deep in the water, they stopped.

        Glancing back up at the shore were Kup and Jazz were watching them, Prowl let out a soft sigh and whistled. 

        His pups all looked up and towards him, peeping a few times before finally rushing over to him. Splashing about in the water, they gathered around him as he crouched down. 

        “This is it-” Prowl’s voice is soft as he reached out to cup each of the pup’s chubby faces. Rubbing behind each of their fins, he continues to speak, Jazz unable to distinguish it from the noise of the waves. Instead he just watches Prowl point out to the sea a few times, and then finally, the pups moving past him. 

        One by one they vanish under the water until one is left. Scrapper, who scoots up against Prowl and cuddles his head under Prowl’s chin. The pup peeps softly to him, giving his cheek one last little lick before finally, he too moves on. 

        As Prowl stands and faces out into the ocean, he watches Scrapper vanish under the water’s surface. Moments later, the pups are shooting from the water, flopping down in it as a display to Prowl before finally, they are gone. 

        Trudging from the water with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Prowl is met back on the sand to a hefty hug from Jazz. 

        “Now we have an excuse to come to the beach and sunbathe.” Drawing out a small laugh from Prowl, Jazz gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze while walking back up to Ratchet.

        “You two look like you could use a coffee.”

        “Would love one, actually.” Both Prowl and Jazz say at the same time.

        Motioning for them to follow, Ratchet lead them into his little house, Kup and his pups following behind. 

        Jazz follows first, leaving Prowl to stand on the beach a moment longer. Glancing out over the water, a gentle breeze picked up, and a small smile crossed his face. 


End file.
